A Man Out Of Time
by MarqueeMoonGirl
Summary: Noodle was given a glimpse into the past of one of her bandmates. Now it's no longer a glimpse. COMPLETE : PART 14 UP
1. Just A Thought

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By MarqueeMoonGirl_

part ONE: Just A Thought

---

_"To murder, my love, is a crime  
But will you still love  
A man out of time?"_

---

"Noodle!" Russel called from outside her room, "You ready yet? We gotta go, or we'll be late!"

The Japanese girl in question looked away from the mirror in her bathroom a moment to shout a "Hai!" at the closed door, then turned her attention back to the mirror. Carfully, she took the small eyeshadow brush, shut her eye, and expertly swiped it across her eyelid. She shut the other and did the same.

Russel knocked on the door again, sounding impatient. "Noodle, we have to leave right now!"

She shut the small case and grasped a small tube of lip gloss. "In a minute, Russel-san!"

In the corridor, Russel sighed and ran his fingers over his bald head, visably annoyed. 2D, dressed in a green t-shirt and dark jeans, was sitting on the floor next to the drummer, absentmindedly playing with his switchblade. Russel looked down the hallway, then stared down at the blue-haired man. "All right, where's Murdoc? We have a concert in twenty minutes."

2D shrugged. "He's still in his 'Bago, I think."

Russel made a noise that sounded like he was ready to explode.

---

2D hesitantly knocked on the door to Murdoc's Winnebago. The door swung open, revealing a large mound of dirty clothes piled in front of the entrance. Murdoc stood in front of an open closet, peering at the singer over his shoulder. "Whaddya want, dullard?"

"Russel's gettin' antsy." 2D said, the pile of clothes blocking most of his view of Murdoc. "He wants to know if you're ready yet."

"I'm lookin' for my concert jacket. I wear it to every shitty little gig I go to." Murdoc replied, rapidly emptying his closet. "How come I can't fucking find it?!"

2D sidestepped a pair of discolored orange briefs that had overshot the pile and landed on the concrete floor of the Carpark. " …'Home of the Whopper'?" He asked, reading the letters printed on the backside of the underpants. "Murdoc, do you ever throw anything out?"

Murdoc, not listening, tossed more clothing out of his closet. "GODDAMMIT. I've had that jacket for over two decades! Where the hell is it?!" he screamed.

The lift in the carpark dinged, and the doors opened.

"Russel-san, please! I'm not chilly!" Noodle said, carrying her instrument bag. Dressed in a sleeveless purple top with a plunging neckline and a short white skirt, it was obvious to see why Russel was trying to get her to wear something over it.

"Oh, c'mon Noodle. I-I'd feel a lot better if you wore this tonight." Russel said, holding up a long matronly black sweater.

Rolling her eyes, Noodle took the sweater out of his hands and put it on, leaving it unbuttoned as she stormed over to the Geep in adolescent rage.

The drummer sighed, realizing his plot had backfired. Well, his little baby girl was a teenager now. This was to be expected. But the first guy to ogle Noodle tonight would find himself with a snare drum shoved down his throat, along with the floor-tom and cymbals. "2D! Murdoc!" He called. "We're leaving now!"

The grubby clothing came pouring out of the Winnebago at an even more frantic rate then before. "Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck."

---

In the end, Murdoc, who still hadn't found his concert jacket, was forcibly dragged out of his Winnebago by the much larger drummer and shoved into the rumble seat of the Geep, along with a silently fuming Noodle.

It was a quiet drive. Noodle spent the ride over staring at the buildings flashing past. She hated how Russel refused to treat her like an adult. In a way, she could almost understand why: he was the closest thing she'd had to a father figure, and she'd probably always be his baby girl, even in her thirties, but sometimes she just wanted to be able to act and yes, dress the way normal sixteen-year-old girls did.

Why was it so difficult for him to accept that she was growing up?

"Club Evermore." Murdoc announced as the club came into view, interrupting her thoughts. "Home to such greats as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello, and The Clash back in the day. And now Gorillaz."

"What day?" 2D asked from the front seat.

"Yeah, and we're only arriving twenty minutes after the show was supposed to start." Russel said. "We'll be lucky if they don't tear us to shreds."

---

After parking the Geep, (and Noodle 'accidentally' leaving the long sweater in its backseat), the three men climbed the stairs to the performer's entrance, Noodle sullenly behind them.

"You bastards!"

Noodle's head snapped up. She hung back on the landing, right outside the entrance leading into Club Evermore. The others, in a pre-concert euphoria, didn't notice. The door swung shut behind Russel.

Noodle stared at the brick wall next to the metal staircase leading to the performer's door. She heard another grunt come from the other side, then a shout, and the sound of flesh slamming against flesh.

The Japanese girl / super solider quickly sprinted back down the steps, her guitar case swinging wildly from her back. Silently, she rounded the corner of the narrow alley.

Three teenage boys were crowded around a fourth. One was restraining the unlucky victim's arms behind his back so he couldn't fight back as the other two smiled mischievously, punching and kicking him in the face and stomach. The boy getting beaten up, dressed in a dark-red leather jacket, sputtered out an insult, which wiped the smiles off the faces of the others almost instantly.

One of them, the oldest one, reached into his ripped denim jacket and pulled out a flick-knife. The blade flashed from the light of a streetlamp nearby.

Noodle's stomach lurched as she realized what he meant to do. Setting the guitar case down, she launched herself at the three boys. Before they'd had time to react to her presence, she'd knocked the blade out of the oldest teen's hands with a well-placed jab and done a powerful roundhouse kick to his chest, slamming him into the brick wall. He slumped over, unconscious.

She turned to the other two teenagers, her face a mask of skilled viciousness. The one holding the teenager in the red-leather jacket suddenly released him, and both of the attackers ran past her, out of the alley and into the summer night.

The teen fell to his knees and groaned. "Ohh Jesus, that hurts."

Noodle bent over him, concerned. "Are you all right?"

He waved her off. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine." Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he ran a hand across his face, and seemed unsurprised at the blood on his fingertips. "Got a tissue?" He turned to look at her.

Noodle found herself staring into two mismatched eyes: one red, the other dark black.

'_M-murdoc-san?' _

In a small voice, she replied, "_Gomen nasi_, but I don't have a tissue."

He shrugged, wiping at the blood with his hand. "Oh well." He looked at the assailant Noodle had KO'd, who still out cold. "That's pretty fuckin' impressive, y'know that? That lug intimidates everyone he meets. Never thought a crazy kung-fu girl would be able to take 'im down so quick."

"Thank you, but it was nothing." She turned away from him and quickly walked to where she'd left her guitar. '_I'm going insane. I must be. In a moment, I will look back and he won't be there._'

"Hey! Wait a minute, will ya?" The boy called, rising to his feet. "Where you runnin' off to?" He looked her up and down in the streetlamp's light, and grinned, apparently liking what he saw.

Uh oh.

"I-I have a gig." Noodle said, picking up the instrument case. "At that club." She gestured towards Club Evermore's sign. "I have to go or Russel will be mad at me."

The boy stood stunned for a moment, then started to laugh. "Girlie, last time I checked, The Clash didn't have any female members."

"The Clash." She repeated stiffly. '_Didn't they disband in 1986?'_

"Yeah. They're playing here tonight. I was gonna go see 'em before my skinhead brother Hannibal and his pals decided to steal my ticket, and _then_ decided to beat me up for the hell of it, the bastards."

Hannibal was the name of Murdoc's older brother, currently in jail for stealing hubcaps off of parked cars. "Oh." Noodle said, backpedaling away from him. This was just too weird for her to comprehend."I'm sorry, but I really have to go right now."

The teenaged Murdoc grabbed her wrist. "Hey, 'fore you dash off…"

Noodle looked up at him. "Yes?" She squeaked, pulling her hand free.

He grinned slyly again, the blood still running down a small cut on his temple, then gently kissed her on the forehead. "Thank you."

Noodle felt her cheeks flush red.

Taking off the dark-red leather jacket, Murdoc placed it around Noodle's shoulders. "Better take this. Looks a little cold tonight."

She fingered the fabric. Up close, she recognized it as Murdoc's concert jacket, the one he'd been unable to find today, without the wear and tear of twenty-five years in Murdoc's possession. "Won't you need it?"

He gave her a pointed-toothed half smile. "Someday. When I have the world's greatest band. But not now, though." The grin widened. "I'm sure we'll meet again before that, anyway. You can give it back to me then."

She put her arms through the sleeves, and grabbed her guitar. "It's a promise." Noodle said, running up the stairs to the performer's entrance of Club Evermore.

"You bet, girlie." Murdoc called from the bottom of the stairs.

---

Noodle found her way backstage, finding her bandmates in a small panic at her sudden disappearance and the irritated cries of the crowd on the other side of the curtain, impatient for the show to start.

"Where were you?" Russel asked from behind his drum kit as Noodle plugged her guitar into the amp and strummed a chord. His eyes bugged out when he noticed the dark-red leather jacket she was wearing. "Where did you get that?"

"A friend gave it to me." Noodle said. "He lent it to me, actually." She threw her arms around Murdoc's neck and drew him into a hug. "Isn't that right, Murdoc-san?"

"Gluck." said the unsuspecting bassist.

END: part ONE

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ: I believe this is the oddest little story I've ever written. Lemme know what you guys think, because I'm curious.

'Home of the Whopper' was a slogan of Burger King from the 1960s to the 1970s. And yes, 'Home of the Whopper' briefs do, in fact, exist. This was intended as a small nod to Tom Servo on the TV show _'Mysterey Science Theater 3000'_, who had one pair in his underwear collection, along with a vintage Joe Namath netted slingshot brief (prototype).

Club Evermore is my own creation; its name is a reference to the Led Zeppelin song 'The Battle of Evermore'. Just be glad I didn't name it 'Misty Mountain Hop Cafe'.

The title of the story and the song lyrics are from Elvis Costello's 'Man Out Of Time', while the chapter title is a song from Gnarls Barkley's 'St. Elsewhere' album


	2. From Her Fingers

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By MarqueeMoonGirl_

part TWO : From Her Fingers

---

_I only live to be born again._

_I only live to be born again._

_I only live to be born again._

_---_

JUNE 1982

Stoke-On-Trent, UK

_5…_

_4…_

_3…_

_2…_

_1…_

_Happy sixteenth birthday, Murdoc Niccals. _

Murdoc rolled over on top of the pile of blankets that served as a bed when he stayed at his friend's apartment, and stared up at the large clock on the wall facing his makeshift bed. A minute past midnight, June 6th 1982. His birthday.

_Happy fucking birthday._

So now he was sixteen years old. It didn't really feel that different from being fifteen. After all, Jacob still hated him and was waiting eagerly for the day Murdoc could walk out of his life forever. Hannibal still wanted to rearrange his face with anything sharp and pointed. And, big surprise, Mom was still in the mental institution, going on her twenty-fifth year of residence there.

He visited her occasionally, mostly to make sure she was doing well. Insane or not, she was still his mother. And she was probably the only member of his immediate family who didn't want him dead, and that was only because her illness had robbed her of rational thought.

"_Hey Mum. How you doin'?"_

"_Good sorrow, boy! Who is the yule today?"_

"…_I'm fine, Mum." _

In fact, when he got right down to it, Murdoc's life so far had been a large steaming pile of shit. His only refuge from this miserable existence was music. Listening to it was wonderful, but playing it was his idea of heaven. In between dodging Hannibal's gang and his father, he had somehow scrounged up enough cash to purchase a secondhand bass guitar and the cheapest amp he could find. It wasn't much - the guitar looked like someone had beat it against the wall several times and the sound that came out of the amp was terrible – but it was a good place to start. Deep inside himself, he knew that one day, when he was rich and famous, he'd be able to buy better equipment.

And he'd be able to sleep in a real bed in his own flat and not the floor of a thirty-something metalhead friend of a friend with a drug problem because he didn't want to be with his family. And girls – his age, not menopausal dinner ladies – would worship him as a rock god and come to his bed in droves.

That thought made him grin, but then it faltered slightly. _Is that really what I want? A flood of mindless groupies with pert little bodies and nothing else? Seems almost kind of sad._

His body liked the idea quite a bit. But in his heart, he knew that wasn't the choice for him. But then, that left the question of who was it that he desired?

Murdoc realized the answer had been lingering in his thoughts for the past five hours. He didn't want groupies, he wanted that girl. The strange purple-haired kung-fu guitar girl, who he'd given his freshly-stolen leather jacket to. Shit, he hadn't even asked for her name!

_Well, there goes that. I'll never see her _or_ that jacket again…Damn, that was a nice jacket too. _

"_Murdoc-san?" _A voice asked quietly. _"Russel-san?"_

Startled, he sat up. Not his friend; he could see him through the doorway, he was conked out of the sofa. The voice had been female with a heavy Japanese accent and had sounded just like… _No no no no. That's impossible. You're one-hundred percent nuts, Niccals. Just like yer Mum. _

"_2D-san? Murdoc-san? Where are you?" _The girl asked again, slightly louder.

He opened his mouth only to find his voice gone. She was calling his name, which he'd never told her. This was either incredibly creepy or sexy, he couldn't make up his mind which. Finally, Murdoc found his voice. "Here."

Something passed across the very edge of his line of vision. _"Murdoc-san?" _The girl sounded apprehensive. She realized something was wrong.

The window above Murdoc's head had no curtains since a wild party two years ago had ended with a particularly rowdy guest setting them on fire. The moonlight passed through the glass and fell upon the floor, lighting the room softly in shades of blue. The girl from the Evermore slowly walked into the moonlight's path, and for the first time, Murdoc fully realized something indescribably bizarre was going on.

The Japanese girl was transparent. He could see right through her to the round clock hanging on the wall.

Her eyes were open wide. Murdoc could just make out that they were bright green. "_Oh no." _She said. "_What is going on?" _

"I was thinking maybe you could tell me." Murdoc said.

The girl's head whipped around to face him, and he realized she hadn't noticed him until he'd spoken. Her jaw dropped. "_You!"_

"Yeah, me. Murdoc Niccals. But you already seem to know my name already, which puts me at a little bit of a disadvantage. So what's your name?"

Instead of answering, the girl backed away.

"Look, I promise I won't tell anyone you were here or try anything, girlie. Now what's your name?"

The girl looked up at him with her large green eyes. He held her gaze with his mismatched red-and-black eyes. Murdoc got the feeling the girl was trying to determine if he could be trusted or not.

The girl decided he could. "_Noodle." _She said.

"Noodle." Murdoc echoed incredulously. She was named after pasta? Jeeze, what had her parents been smoking when she'd been born? "Is there a last name that goes with that?"

She shook her head. _"Just Noodle."_

"…so why are you here, Noodle?"

Noodle sat down on the floor, sighing. _"I don't know. Either I'm not supposed to be here or you're not supposed to be here."_

"Well, I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be here. This is my buddy's flat, in _lovely_ Stoke-On-Trent."

"_I see..."_ Noodle's shoulders slumped. _"I see you and part of your surroundings, and I can see my bedroom behind you. You're slightly fuzzy and transparent." _She looked at the floor, then up at him.

Murdoc looked up at her. "Really? 'Cause you look kind of see-through to me too." An idea struck him. It was kind of silly, but then so was this whole situation. "Hold out your hand."

Noodle did so. Slowly, he reached out towards her, and then deciding 'to Hell with it', grabbed her hand.

The room around him whirled and tumbled. He was aware of someone yelling, and then he hit a wooden floor with a loud thunk.

Stars dancing in front of his eyes, he looked around. He wasn't in Metalhead's apartment anymore. He was in a small room, with a hard wooden floor, and decorated with Japanese lanterns, and posters with Japanese kanji on them. A sliding wood and paper partition separated one section of the room from the rest. The floor was littered with small reflective discs of some kind, and two guitars, one electric and one acoustic, were leaning against a large amp. The leather jacket he'd given to her (lent to her, he reminded himself) was on a low table.

"Murdoc-san? What did you do? You're solid now." Noodle said, sounding frightened. He realized he was still holding her hand, which had become very sweaty, and let go.

Behind her, the door to her room opened with a bang. "Noodle, what the fu—"

Forty-year old Murdoc stared at the scene on the other side of Noodle's door. Noodle was sitting on the floor, next to a disoriented sixteen-year-old boy. Both of them still had their clothes on, which meant that the boy would only be _slightly_ killed for being in Noodle's room alone with her.

Then he took a closer look at the boy. A very close look.

The teenage Murdoc's breath caught in his throat. It didn't take a lot of brainpower to notice the eerie likeness between himself and the older man. The eyes, the nose, the hair...it was like looking into a mirror with a very warped sense of humor.

Christ. One day that would be him?

The middle-aged Murdoc turned his head to look at the Japanese guitarist. "Noodle, what the fuck's going on? Is this some sort of joke?"

Noodle's face was bright red, and she looked near tears. "I don't know what's happening, Murdoc-san! I don't know!" Then she started to cry out of frustration.

Without thinking, sixteen-year-old Murdoc gently wiped the tears off her face with her sleeve. Noodle looked at him, her eyes puffy, and gave a small smile.

The older Murdoc silently watched his younger self return the smile Noodle'd given him.

This was bad, very very bad.

END : part TWO

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ: When I said this was a one-shot, I lied. Or a nasty little plot bunny said I should continue it, since there were a lot of loose ends left unresolved in the original one-shot. I'm not really sure where this'll go, but it should be interesting to see where it ends up.

The song lyrics are 'R.U. Ready 2 Rock' by Blue Oyster Cult, while the chapter title is a song title from Tom Verlaine's 'Songs and Other Things' album.

And as always, reviews make me very happy.


	3. See No Evil

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By MarqueeMoonGirl_

part THREE: See No Evil

---

_She's a lot like you:  
the dangerous type._

---_  
_

"Well, _this_ is bizarre."

The four Gorillaz stared at the young teenage boy sitting against the far wall of Noodle's room. The teenaged Murdoc stared back blankly. In his situation, there wasn't a lot he could do except hope that the others didn't hurl him into the putrid landfill surrounding the building and leave him there to rot.

"So, that kid over there is supposed to be you, Murdoc?" 2D continued, gesturing towards him. The expression on the singer's face clearly showed he thought this was nothing more then a gigantic joke at his expense, and he wasn't buying it for a second.

"I'm sixteen." The teenager said while chewing on a toothpick, very bored. His rear end was starting to numb up from sitting on the hard wood floor for too long. "Not a kid."

"Yes. He's myself at a younger age, dickweed. Somehow, he ended up here." Murdoc seemed very agitated, and was fiddling with the inverted cross in a very un-Murdoc-y fashion. His eyes kept darting from the teen, to his cross, and then to Noodle before repeating the whole cycle.

In addition to his buttocks, now the teenaged Murdoc's right leg was falling asleep too. Why didn't Noodle have any normal chairs in her room?

In a heroic show of effort, 2D's four remaining brain cells managed to reason out that what Murdoc had said was impossible. "Oh, of course. How silly of me." He said, the sarcasm dripping from his words. Noodle couldn't remember the last time 2D had used sarcasm and actually made sense.

The older Murdoc growled, and twisted his head slowly until 2D could see his eyes, which seemed to blaze with anger and the guarantee of never-ending pain if the dimwitted singer opened his mouth again. Stronger men than Stuart Tusspot had run away screaming like frightened schoolgirls from the Murdoc Niccals Angry Stare, and it had the desired effect on the singer, who fearfully edged away from the bassist.

Sixteen-year old Murdoc watched the two, the sudden timidity of the blue-haired man making him feel slightly ill. The more he saw of what he would be one day, the more he loathed both himself and the older Murdoc.

Jesus Christ, not only would he grow up to be ugly as sin, he'd also grow up to be a complete and utter _asshole_.

The ever-practical Russel finally spoke. "So what do we _do_ with him?"

That was an excellent question. Unfortunately, no one seemed had a good answer. While Russel waited for suggestions, Noodle took a sudden interest in the floorboards of her room, 2D was distracted by his mobile phone vibrating in his back pocket, and, as per usual, if something didn't involve alcohol or sex, Murdoc wouldn't care.

"Murdoc-san?" Noodle asked.

Both Murdocs turned to look at her. "What?"

"Oh, uh…Mud-kun." She said, pointing towards the younger one. "Do you have any ideas?"

The younger Murdoc looked mystified. '_Mud-kun? What the fuck?'_ Then he realized it was some sort of nickname she'd come up with to differentiate between him and the middle-aged Murdoc. "Uh. Well…" He paused, then shrugged. "…No."

"Sweet Satan, it was a bloody miracle I managed to survive adolescence." Murdoc spat out, pulling out a thin cigarette and lighting it. "You don't have any brains at all. Jesus fucking Christ, kid."

"I'M. NOT. A. KID." Mud repeated again, resisting a growing desire to punch the older man in the face, over and over until there was nothing left but a bloody mess. Instead, he settled for getting up, grabbing his jacket from the wooden table, and storming out the room. He'd be damned if he was going to spend one more minute in the presence of that dick. "Fuck you."

The band was quiet for a minute. "Wow, Murdoc. You can even piss off yourself." Russel said. "I didn't think that was possible."

"If you detest every single fucking person on Earth, even yourself, it's pretty damn doable, Lards." Murdoc muttered, glaring at the large drummer.

Anticipating a large fight between the bassist and drummer, Noodle wrapped her arms around her thin legs and sighed dejectedly.

While still oblivious to the emotional states of the other three Gorillaz, 2D's lingering brain cells nonetheless churned out another coherent thought. "Uh…sunrise isn't for a few more hours. We _did_ tell him about the zombies wandering around outside Kong Studios at night, right?"

There was a long silence. From the lobby, all of them could hear the doors leading outside slam shut.

"The _flesh-eating_ zombies?" 2D continued, unnerved by the quietness. "Who can reduce an unarmed human to bone in under twenty seconds? Y'know, those guys?"

Noodle's eyes narrowed, and before anyone could respond, she and her custom-made _katana_ were gone, running down the stairs to the lobby.

---

With as much stealth as she could muster, the Japanese girl rocketed out of the studio, searching wildly for a teenaged boy with messy black hair and a red leather jacket in the dark. '_Oh please, _please_ be close by.'_ She thought. If he was too far away from the entrance and the zombies were already on him, there was a chance she might not be able to get to him in time. Then it wouldn't matter that she was a highly-skilled Japanese supersolider, Mud would be dead just the same.

No, that couldn't happen. She wouldn't allow it to. While Noodle didn't have the time to sit down and seriously think about what would happen to all of them if Murdoc's younger self was killed, what she could hastily imagine (namely, the universe imploding on itself) wasn't pretty.

To her immense relief, she could make out Mud in the darkness, standing next to the large statue of Pazuzu and staring down at the landfill, alone. No zombie in sight.

She pulled her _katana_ out of its sheath. That didn't mean that zombies weren't around, of course: Kong Studios had a tendency to draw the supernatural and the paranormal to it like moths to a flickering lightbulb. And zombies could be very quiet and sneaky when stalking unsuspecting prey, especially in the dark. It was better to be prepared for a surprise attack then to become unsuspecting foodstuff for the undead.

Noodle grabbed his arm with her free hand. "You can't stay out here. It's not safe."

"What an asshole." Mud said, still looking at the landfill. He kicked a small pebble over the edge into the landfill. A skinny crescent moon barely provided enough light to see some of the contents of the landfill; a large windmill island broken in two, an extremely old and worn Winnebago with a hole in the roof. "It doesn't seem fair, you know? I hate my dad. Hate his stupid fuckin' guts. When I was little, like six or so, I swore that I'd never be like him when I grew up." He laughed weakly. "Guess that didn't last."

"Mud-kun, please." She tugged on the sleeve of his jacket. "Right now we need to get inside."

He pulled his arm away from her. "Leave me alone, Noodle. I have to think, and I can't do that with cunthead in there breathing down my neck."

Somewhere off in the distance, she heard the distinctive wail of the undead gathering together. Noodle ground her teeth together at Mud's extreme stubbornness and sheathed her _katana_. Deciding for a more direct approach, she grabbed the collar of his jacket and yanked him very close to her face. "Unless you get back into the studio right this instant," she hissed. "There is a very high likelihood that you will be turned into zombie chow before you can even take two more steps. I suggest we go back inside. Now."

"Zombie chow?" Mud said, not quite believing what he was hearing.

"Zombie chow." Noodle said firmly. She turned her head towards the landfill as another collective moan of the undead sounded, much louder this time. They were moving faster than usual tonight. "Come on!" She grabbed his arm and tried to guide him back to the Studio in almost complete darkness.

They had almost reached the doors when she felt him suddenly stiffen. "NOODLE!" Mud cried, and she was roughly shoved off her feet and landed on her side with more force then Mud had probably intended. It knocked the breath out of her.

Lying in the dirt, momentarily stunned, Noodle heard the sound that confirmed her worst fear.

She was listening to the piercing yowls of zombies about to feed.

END: part THREE

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ: So far, this is turning out to be pretty fun! To all my reviewers; thanks for all your kind words of encouragement. : ) I don't know exactly when I'll get the next part up, but it should be pretty soon. Once I get into a story, I get so excited that I have to get all of it down as soon as possible.

The chapter title is a song off Television's 'Marquee Moon' album. (Which I adore, of course.) The lyrics are from The Car's 'Dangerous Type'.


	4. The Dream's Dream

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By MarqueeMoonGirl_

part FOUR : The Dream's Dream

---

_It gets hard  
The memory's faded  
Who gets what they say  
It's likely they're just jealous and jaded  
Well maybe I don't want to take advice from fools  
I'll just figure everything is cool  
Until I hear it from you_

---

"Son of a bitch, let go!" Grunting, Mud tried to pry the creature's grip off his arm. The zombie had him in a surprisingly strong hold. It quickly brought the teenager's limb to its own mouth, and he felt the zombie attempt to chew through the leather of the jacket. Curling the fingers of his free arm into a fist, he rammed it into the zombie's face. He felt the weak bone break, removing the zombie's jawbone from the rest of its face. The zombie stared at Mud for a second, then it howled loudly again, the call echoing.

Noodle was on her feet, and swiftly decapitated the zombie with a flick of her _katana_.

Suddenly, another zombie was on him. And another, and another, and another. They kept streaming up from the landfill until his sight was completely filled with nothing but cannibalistic zombies, separating him and Noodle. The undead clawed at his face and hands with their long nails and were trying to chew through his clothing. All of them stared hungrily at him with dead, clouded eyes, or if their eyeballs had decomposed, empty black sockets.

The blue-haired man inside the studio had empty sockets for eyes too. Despite his current situation, Mud suddenly wondered what had happened to that man's eyes.

He tried to wrench himself out of their grip, but if it had been difficult to escape from one determined zombie, it was impossible to escape from a hungry flock of them. They yanked and jerked him around, as if they meant to split him in two, which was very possible.

One long nail ran across his temple to his ear vigorously, drawing blood. The zombie responsible for the cut eagerly bent over, trying to work a fingernail into the cut, preparing to tear Mud's face off his skull.

"Mud-kun!" Noodle was furiously hacking away at the teeming mass of zombies crowded around him with her _katana_. He could hear Noodle's sword cut through the air with a humming sound, slicing through several zombie's necks. But it wouldn't be enough. There were too many for her to handle at once, she's never get to him in time.

Mud suddenly became aware of the fact that he was going to die. It was going to be painful, it was going to be messy, and when it was over, the only sign he'd been here at all would be a smear of blood on the base of the demon statue with a colossal penis.

"NO!" Noodle shouted.

A rippling pain shot through him.

Then there was nothing.

---

The doors to Kong Studios opened slightly. A hand quickly threw out a lit homemade bomb, and hastily shut the triple-reinforced door again. With a blinding flash, the device went off, causing the zombies to scatter. When the last one had crawled back into the landfill, Murdoc, 2D and Russel opened the door and ran out.

"Where's Noodle?" 2D said frantically, three seconds away from breaking down into tears. "I don't see her! Where is she?"

"And there isn't a sign of adolescent Murdoc either." Russel said, then clenched his hands around the flashlight. "Goddamn it, I heard her yell! If we'd come out sooner, maybe they'd still be here."

"Russ, Noodle may be able to handle a wild pack of zombie by herself, but we can't. The bomb was the only way we could break 'em up quickly." Murdoc said coolly.

Russel glared at Murdoc. "You look pretty calm for someone whose very _existence_ is being threatened by all of this. I mean, if Little Murdoc goes bye-bye, you go bye-bye too."

Murdoc shrugged. "So what?"

---

Mud was having a nightmare.

He was tied down to a stone altar with heavy metal chains, the demon statue glaring down at him. Thousands of zombie hands were clawing at him, ripping off large bloody chunks of flesh. Mud yelled and screamed. Pushing through the hands, Noodle tried to undo the chains, but her translucent hands went through them instead. Still tearing at the chains, she faded out of sight. His hands strained outwards, against the metal chains. "Don't go!" he cried.

The statue abruptly shifted into the form of the older Murdoc. From the statue's pedestal above the altar, Murdoc leered at the teenager, his elongated tongue hanging out of his mouth. Around his neck hung a large gold inverted crucifix on a thin chain, which dangled mockingly over the teenager's forehead as the older man leaned down to speak to him.

"You'll get used to it, Murdoc. You can't imagine how fast all of this will become second nature to you."

From behind his back, the older Murdoc pulled a knife with a razor-sharp steel blade. With a cruel grin, he plunged it down into the teenager's chest.

"Murdoc. Hey." Someone was shaking his shoulder. "Didn't hear you come in. How was the concert?"

He opened his eyes.

Mud was in his friend's apartment, lying facedown on top of the pile of blankets. Bright morning sunshine poured through the window, lighting up the clock. Twenty-six minutes past eight.

The owner of the apartment he'd been sleeping in that night, Mike Hell, gaped back at him. His long brown hair was still messy and uncombed, which meant he had just woken up. "Whoa, man. What happened last night?"

"What?" Mud said, still bleary. "What do you mean?"

"Yer face. Looks like you got mugged or something; it's all scratched." Joe frowned. "Eh. Whatever. It's none of my business." Shaking his head, Mike left the small room, and a few minutes later, Mud could hear him snoring again on the sofa.

"Scratched?" Mud asked quietly. His hands trembling, he slowly traced a thick gash across the side of his face with his fingers. Even when he touched it lightly, it stung like a mother. He grimaced. There went the whole 'it was only a dream' theory. How the fuck had he ended up back in Mike's apartment? He'd been a minute or two from certain death at the rotting hands of zombies.

"…is he gone?" The stereo system asked.

"Gah!" He rolled off the temporary bed. What the Hell was that? Warily, he stared at the cabinet where Mike housed his cassette deck, radio receiver and turntable. In the past twenty-four hours, he'd had enough weird shit to last him a lifetime.

Noodle poked her head out from behind the speakers of the expansive set-up. "Mud-kun?" Her mouth pulled upwards into a glad smile. "You're all right!"

"Yeah. I guess I am." Mud said. Considering he'd kept all his major body parts and had only minor cuts and bruises after a massive zombie attack, he was doing pretty well. "How 'bout that?" He grinned.

Noodle, covered in dirt and zombie guts, darted out from behind the stereo and hugged him. Then she began to cry.

Shocked for a moment, Mud quickly came to his senses and patted her back.

Quietly sobbing, Noodle put her head against his chest. She could hear his heart beat, and could feel his chest move gently as he breathed in and out. "I was afraid for you." Noodle said, looking up at Mud. "I don't _like_ being afraid." Looking down, she said "You are very brave."

Mud squeezed her shoulders. "Brave? I was fuckin' _terrified_, love."

_Love_.

Noodle let that one word drift through her brain for a moment. "Mud-kun," she said quietly. "Do you love me?"

The question took the teenager by surprise, but then he grinned, once again revealing his pointed teeth. Without a word, Mud brought her chin up with his fingers, their eyes meeting. For a moment, green eyes, still wet from crying, looked into the red-and-black ones. Then Mud closed his eyes and brought his lips to hers. Blushing furiously, Noodle closed her eyes as well and tilted her head back slightly, accepting the kiss.

Noodle let her body melt against the teenage boy's. Her first kiss. She wished that time would stand still and let her have this moment forever.

He was the one who broke off the kiss. "That's a 'yes', by the way." Mud said.

"Obviously, silly Mud-kun." Noodle said playfully, tousling his hair.

END : part FOUR

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ: Awwww. How cute. Once again, a big thank you to my reviewers. I love seeing what people think of my story.

The chapter title comes from Television's 'Adventure' album (they have such great names for their songs), while the lyrics are the Gin Blossoms 'Till I Hear It From You'.


	5. Never Let Me Down Again

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By MarqueeMoonGirl_

part FIVE: Never Let Me Down Again

---

_All I want is a photo in my wallet  
A small remembrance of something more solid._

_All I want is a picture of you_

---

Mud twisted one of the dials on the sink, and wet a washcloth with the water that erupted from the faucet. Gently, he wiped it against the gash on his face, and winced only slightly when it throbbed with pain. Growing up as Hannibal Niccal's younger brother, he was used to cleaning himself up after a fight. True, most times his brother and his gang hadn't been trying to rip the skin off his face, but at times they'd been just as viscous as the zombies. Mud recalled one occasion where one of Hannibal's friends, a tall and dimwitted boy name Dix, had tied one end of a rope around him and had tied the other end to the back of his uncle's motorcycle and dragged him around Stoke-On-Trent for the better part of an hour, when the unraveling rope had finally snapped.

From the other room, Mud could hear Noodle switching between the two channels Mike's small black-and-white television set could pick up. Not finding either to her liking, she got up and shut it off.

When he came out of the bathroom, the larger cuts on his face covered by band-aids, he found Noodle sitting on one of the many cardboard boxes stuffed with vinyl records in the apartment, staring into space. She had a distant look in her eyes, like her mind was a thousand miles away from the little apartment.

Mud walked over to her, but she didn't seem to notice him. He gave her a small nudge. "Noodle?"

She started, then looked up at him. "Yes?"

"What were you thinkin' about?"

"You. And older Murdoc-san." She said. "It's strange. You're not really alike, but at the same time, you are." She shrugged, realizing that what she'd just said wasn't the best way to explain it.

He snorted. "If I end up like that knobber when I'm old, I'd throw myself off a bridge." He tugged the bottom of his t-shirt, then pulled the jacket over it. "Ready to go?"

Noodle tilted her head to one side. "Go? Go where?"

"Mike, the guy who owns this apartment, is gonna want us outta here once he gets up again, since he's got a girl comin' over later. And there's no way in Hell I'm takin' you to my home. I figured I could show you around the Potteries. There isn't a lot to see, but there are a few neat little music shops I could take you to."

Noodle nodded, a feeling of excitement working its way into her stomach. "That sounds like fun!"

---

"More coffee?"

"Keep it coming, man." Russel said blearily, pushing his mug towards 2D.

2D, the bags under his eyes much more definite then usual, poured the coffee into Russel's mug, a black ceramic cup with a pink poka dots and a cartoon pig face painted on it. It had been a gift from Noodle many Christmases ago. At the time, Russel had found the cup unabashedly tacky, but over the years it had grown on him.

The two men sat down across from each other in the kitchen of Kong Studios, in almost complete darkness. It was almost four in the morning and while both 2D and Russel were dead tired, they knew sleep would be impossible tonight. After lying in bed awake for several hours, Russel had come up to the kitchen to find 2D there, watching the coffee pot percolate. They'd been passing it back and forth for the last hour.

"What do you think he's doin' in that Winnebago?" 2D asked, absentmindedly stirring his coffee.

Russel sighed. "I don't know." He took a sip from his cup. "I don't try to think about what goes through Murdoc's demented little mind if I can help it."

2D shivered slightly. "I don't get him. I mean, if _I_ met a younger me, I'd think I'd be freaking out a little. More then a little: I'd probably have to be _sedated_. And yet, he's all calm and quiet. Taking it a little too well, like he doesn't really care that this could kill him."

The drummer looked up at 2D, his expression gloomy. "Maybe he doesn't."

2D stared. "But why? He's said it himself, Gorillaz was his dream! He's got everything he could ever want!"

Russel sighed. "Sometimes what we think we want and what we actually _need_ aren't the same things, 'D."

"Oh." The singer said, befuddled. "I-I _guess_ that makes sense..."

A gentle shudder passed through Kong Studios. The singer and the drummer stared down at the table until it was over, 2D drinking from his coffee mug. He made a face. "Needs more sugar."

Russel looked amused as 2D poured spoonful after spoonful of sugar into his mug. "Jesus, man."

"What? It's way too bitter. I think those beans must've gone bad or somfink."

"It's _supposed_ to be bitter, 'D! Haven't you ever had coffee before?"

2D looked at the near-empty sugar bowl, then at his cup of coffee, which had a small mound of sugar poking out of it. "Oh."

---

Noodle and Mud walked through the streets of Stoke-On-Trent together. Grinning, he grabbed Noodle's wrist. "C'mon, I wanna show you something." Without waiting for a reply, he started to run, elbowing older people walking on the streets out of the way. Noodle followed him. "I think we've got a few minutes before it closes!" He called back to Noodle. Abruptly, he stopped in front of a small store. In the large glass window was an electric guitar, surrounded by dozens of vinyl albums. Noodle looked up. The sign hanging overhead said this store was 'Sarah's Records'.

"Best used-vinyl store in all of Stoke." Mud said, opening the door. "C'mon in."

Noodle walked inside the store. The walls inside the store were plastered with ripped and faded posters advertising rock bands Noodle had never heard of. Large bins stuffed with records lined the store. In one corner a few concert t-shirts hung on a small rack above a little bookcase housing a few books and magazines. On the bookcase was a turntable, which was currently playing an 'Electric Light Orchestra' album.

"Wow." Noodle said quietly. It was what heaven might look like.

"Hey Murdoc." The young woman behind the counter said without looking up from the magazine she was reading. In her mid-twenties, she was only slightly taller then Mud, with dark skin and short jet-black hair. She was wearing a black sleeveless shirt, and Noodle could see a faded pair of jeans ending in bare feet swinging back and forth under the counter.

"Hi Sarah. I brought a friend to see your shop." Mud said.

Sarah tore herself away from the magazine, and smiled broadly. "Hey, how're you doing?" She got off the stool and came around the counter. "I'm Sarah."

Noodle bowed. "Noodle."

"Hey, Noodle. I run this shop, as you might've guessed." Her chest swelled with pride, she was obviously was proud of owning her own business. "So you can go look through the stacks as long as you'd like, I've got some homemade and bootleg records you won't find in any other store in England. Put anything you're curious to hear on the turntable."

Noodle smiled back. "_Arigato_!"

Sarah seemed pleased. "What a polite girl. Murdoc, what on Earth is she doing with you?"

Mud only looked mildly annoyed. "Hrmph."

Grinning, Noodle left Mud and Sarah to look through the records. Flipping through the 'N' box, she stopped once she reached a 'New York Dolls' bootleg live album.

She bounded enthusiastically over to Sarah, holding the record. "Can I put this on?"

Sarah nodded. "Go for it, sweetie."

Noodle took the 'Electric Light Orchestra' album off the record player and put on the New York Dolls bootleg. It sounded like it had been recorded inside a tin can, but Johnny Thunder's squealing guitar pierced through the popping and hissing.

"_Well I just lost a lover, who done found somebody else.  
I get cool and lonely, feelin' sorry for myself…"_

"You like the New York Dolls?" Mud asked, suddenly by her side.

"Johnny Thunder was one of my guitar idols." Noodle admitted, turning down the volume slightly. "Richie Sambora, the guitarist for Bon Jovi, was the other one."

"Bon Jovi? Never heard of them."

Noodle suddenly remembered that Bon Jovi wouldn't release their first album for two more years. "Nevermind."

The two stood in front of the turntable, listening to the record. Slowly, as if he wasn't sure this was the right way to it, Mud's arm reached around and grasped Noodle's shoulder gently. Smiling, she leaned slightly into his chest.

Back behind the counter, Sarah looked up slightly and smiled, then went back to her magazine.

---

An hour after the closing time of Sarah's Record's, Sarah had finally kicked them out. After they'd left the store, Mud had brought her to an old decaying mansion, hidden deep in a small forest behind a much nicer house.

"What's this place?"

"The old Grant Mansion. It was abandoned sixty years ago when the owner went nuts. The people who eventually bought this place just decided to build another house on the land rather then fix up this dump." Mud said, crawling underneath the rotting porch. "Where are those buggers…Here we go!" He came back out holding a large gym bag. Grinning, he unzipped the bag and took out a BB gun. He quickly loaded it. "Ever wanted to shoot out a window, love?"

"Sometimes."

"Then let me show you how it's done first." Mud took aim at an upstairs window, then pulled the trigger. The window below the one he'd been aiming at shattered.

Noodle giggled. "Let me try." She reached for the gun.

Mud pulled the BB gun away from her. "No, I want to get that one first." He aimed again, and pulled the trigger. This time the window to the right broke.

Grunting, Mud thrust the BB gun into her hands. "You try."

After Mud had shown her how to load it, Noodle closed one eye and fixed the open one on the difficult-to-hit window. She slowly squeezed the trigger. The window shattered.

Noodle jumped up and down. "I did it!" She yelled.

Mud grinned, then suddenly his smile vanished. He looked through the trees towards the new house. Noodle could make out a large man running from the new house towards them, brandishing a much larger gun then the small BB rifle Noodle was holding.

Murdoc darted deeper into the woods. "Run!" He yelled.

The man fired off a round, and a thin tree branch to the far left of Noodle suddenly snapped off. Coming to her senses, she rushed into the trees, following Mud. He knew this area better then she did.

For five minutes, the two ran as fast as they could. The path Mud took led them through the woods, and ended in the backyard of another house. "We're fine now." Mud panted, then he looked up at the darkening sky. "C'mon, let's get to a bus stop."

"Where are we going?" Noodle asked.

"To find something to eat."

Noodle looked off to the sky. "Mud-kun. Could you take me somewhere?"

"You mean, like a restaurant? I've only got enough money for something chea---"

Noodle shook her head. "No, I didn't mean that. I'd be happy with McDonalds."

"Then where else did you want to go?"

Noodle told him.

END: part FIVE

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ: Evil cliffhanger of doooooom. DOOOOM. And I promise stuff will happen in the next chapter!

Sorry for the delay in getting this part up. I had writer's block. I think I've got an idea of the direction I want this to go in, so hopefully there won't be such a long wait between this and the next chapter.

2D referring to having be sedated is a small private joke : almost a year ago I posted a Gorillaz fan video on YouTube that had 2D 'singing' the Ramones' classic, 'I Wanna Be Sedated'.

The chapter title is from Depeche Mode's 'Music for the Masses' album, while the lyrics are from 'Picture This', by Blondie.

And here is where I plead for you to_ please _leave a review.


	6. Fade Away And Radiate

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By MarqueeMoonGirl_

part SIX: Fade Away And Radiate

---

_I've been beat up, I've been thrown out  
But I'm not down, I'm not down  
I've been shown up, but I've grown up  
And I'm not down, I'm not down_

---

Kong Studios is a very unusual place. In the long history of the site the Studio had built on, it had always been a magnet for the abnormal and bizarre. While the appearance of Mud's younger self there was somewhat strange, more outlandish things had happened while the Gorillaz had lived there. When they first moved in, all the doors in the building would never lead into the same room twice. Another week, the walls of 2D's room had secreted a thick red substance. To their surprise, it wasn't blood but instead a gooey raspberry jam.

More disturbingly, the four had also found that whatever strange energy the land oozed out was having an effect on them as well. For the better part of a day, Russel had suddenly spoken French fluently while Murdoc shouted at him in Hebrew. 2D, only able to speak and understand Italian, had locked himself in his room. Only Noodle had been unaffected, and eventually it had passed.

After returning to Kong to record their second album, the discovery of the fiery hole that acted as a gateway directly into Hell inside the hidden bunker wasn't really a shock to any of them. While they sometimes wondered why it was there, Noodle, Russel and 2D didn't think too much about it.

But to Murdoc Niccals, it was a sign that his days on Earth were numbered. Inside his filthy Winnebago, the bassist sat on his bed, holding his mobile phone in one hand.

Reality was breaking. The barriers between Now and Before were crumbling away, which explained his younger self's and Noodle's constant time-jumping.

He quickly punched in a phone number.

"Declan and MacManus, attorneys-at-law." said the secretary, an elderly lady, on the other end.

"This is Murdoc Niccals. I brought a contract for Mr. Declan to look over back in the eighties and I wondered if he still had a copy of it on file. I…lost the original." That was true, at least in part. It wasn't easy to keep track of something once it'd been thrown into the trash.

"Just a minute, Mr. Niccals." The secretary put down the phone, leaving Murdoc waiting anxiously for several minutes. When he heard her sit back down into the chair and pick up the phone again, his heart began to race frantically. What if they didn't have it anymore? He would need a copy of that contract to have any chance of weaseling out of it. Murdoc knew that he had violated a few of the conditions listed in the contract, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember the penalties. Why the hell had he thrown it away in the first place?

"Mr. Niccals?"

"Yes?"

"I located the contract you were referring to. May '86?"

Murdoc sighed. That would be around the right time. After twenty years, his lawyer still had a copy of Murdoc's deal with the Devil. "That's it."

---

Mud and Noodle sat together on the crowded bus. A chubby woman in her early seventies sat in the seat across from Noodle's and stared, an odd expression on her wrinkled face and muttering nonsense words to herself.

Noodle looked up at the woman, then quickly turned her head away, looking out the dark window. Why was she looking at her like that?

"Lousy little Jap!" The woman suddenly screamed, pointing one bony finger towards the guitarist.

The other passengers on the bus turned to watch the woman as the middle-aged man in a suit sitting next to the screaming woman tried to gently calm her down. "Mum, stop that. Can't you see you're scaring that poor girl? She wasn't even alive when that war started."

Mud was more direct. "Shut your fuckin' trap, lady." He growled.

"I lost my husband because of you fucking Nips! You killed him! You killed my Bennie!" The woman yelled again, her eyes full of pure hatred towards the speechless Japanese girl. Looking very apologetic, the man got up from his seat and slowly led his elderly mother to the other end of the bus. The woman was weeping now. "I-I loved my Henry book of glowing beef…" Once seated in the very front of the bus, the woman became quiet again.

Looking down at the floor, Noodle quietly sobbed. Mud put one arm around her, and pulled her close to him. "Noodle, don't let what she said bother you. That lady's schizo."

"H-how do you know that?" asked Noodle, wiping the tears out of her eyes. Before all of this had started, she'd rarely cried, and now it seemed that she couldn't hold back any of her tears.

"She's got all the symptoms." Mud said, leaning back. "My mum's the same way sometimes."

The two sat, watching the dark landscape outside flash past, often illuminated for a moment by streetlamps.

Noodle stifled a yawn. Being on a moving bus always made her sleepy, and she was already so tired from the day's events that she was finding it difficult to stay awake.

A few minutes later, she was fast asleep. Gradually, Noodle started to lean sideways until her head was almost in Mud's lap.

With a slight smile, Mud lightly stroked Noodle's purple hair.

He loved Noodle. He was deeply thankful to whatever screw-up in the normal order of the universe that had allowed them to be together despite being separated across twenty-five years. And the time-jumps seemed to have stopped for the moment, so no hungry zombies after his flesh.

And no middle-aged devil-worshipping asshole Murdoc.

Even here, in his own time, he'd be damned if he ever let Hannibal or Jacob anywhere near him again.

All that mattered was the guitar-playing purple-haired Japanese girl from the future.

---

An hour later, Noodle was gently prodded awake by Mud. "This is our stop." Mud said. The driver opened the door, and the two teenagers got off. The bus zoomed away in a cloud of diesel, leaving them in front of Belphagor Sanatorium.

"I have to say, I can't imagine why you'd want to come here." Mud said, turning around to look at her.

"I never met your mother. " Noodle said. "I think she died before our band was formed, but I don't know. Older Murdoc never told us much about his family. He told us his father was dead when we were recording our first album, and that turned out to be untrue. Both Jacob and Hannibal have come to Kong to beg for money from your older self since then."

Mud snorted. "Did I give them anything?"

Noodle shook her head. "No, although that hasn't stopped Jacob. Hannibal was recently put into jail for stealing hubcaps, so he's not able to come anymore." Once she stepped inside, she stopped in her tracks and wrinkled her nose. "What on earth is that smell?"

"Urine, mostly. A lot of the old people here have some form of dementia and can't control their bowels, so they pee all over the place."

"Yuck." Noodle said as they approached the nurse's station inside the stark lobby.

"_You're_ the one who wanted to come here, girl." Mud pointed out, then addressed the plump nurse behind the counter, who was filling in paperwork. "Hello," He looked at her nametag, "Mrs. Rachel."

A small thin boy popped up from the counter, yelling something unintelligible. Startled, Mud jumped back, while Noodle stared at the child.

_'Oh …'_ Unlike Murdoc, 2D had shown her pictures of himself when he was a kid. She had no problem recognizing the gangly, black-haired blue-eyed child in front of her as Stuart Tusspot, age 4. 

The boy laughed as his mother pulled him off the counter and onto the floor. "Now, Stuart, you know you're not supposed to scare people like that." Rachel said, giving him a small swat to the head.

Stuart pouted. "But I'm bored. Nothing fun to do here, and my headaches are startin' up again."

"Then sit still and be quiet. We'll go home soon." She gave an apologetic smile to Mud and Noodle. "I'm dreadfully sorry about that. Stuart just can't sit still. He has ants in his pants."

From behind the counter, Stuart gave a high-pitched shriek. "I hate ants!"

"Sorry." Rachel said again. "What can I help you with, dearie?"

"We're here to visit Darcie Sullivan." said Mud.

Rachel gave a low whistle. "Bit late for a visit, isn't it? Past seven, nobody comes to visit."

"We had to come from Stoke by bus." Mud explained, bristling. "Can we see her or can't we?"

Rachel looked momentarily stunned by the irritated edge to Mud's voice, but quickly recovered. "You can see her, just sign in first. I assume you know which room she's in?"

Mud nodded. "Yes." He said curtly.

"Great. Then just sign in here." She pointed towards a small piece of paper. Mud quickly wrote down his name, then handed the pen to Noodle. She signed the paper 'Noodle'.

"First and last name, dear." Rachel said. When Noodle looked up at her, taken aback, Rachel smiled. "I don't make the rules, darling. I just have to enforce them."

Looking at the paper, she wrote down the first name that came to her mind.

---

"Noodle Niccals?" Mud snickered as they walked down the hallway.

Noodle blushed. "I know, but it was the first thing I thought of."

"So we're brother and sister now?"

Noodle blushed again, but was saved from answering by the running footsteps of little Stuart. The two turned around to find him staring up at Noodle with his large blue eyes.

"Hi." He said. "You're pretty."

"Uh. Thank you, …Stuart."

Smiling, he ran back towards the nurse's station.

Stopping in front of a closed door, Mud shook his head.

Noodle looked at the name printed neatly on a sign next to the door. 'Darcie Sullivan'.

"This is your mother's room?" Noodle asked.

He nodded, then opened the door. The room itself was painted bright pink, which looked dreadfully tacky next to the walnut bureau and night table. A small partition divided part of the room into a sitting area with chairs and a radio, and the bedroom. The bed that Murdoc's mother was lying in was enormous. Thick blankets and pillows were piled high on the bed, cradling the frail woman.

Darcie's face lit up as Mud and Noodle entered the room. Her long hair was pale blonde, almost as white as her pallid skin. While not a young woman, she was noticeably younger then most of the residents of Belphagor by four or five decades. She was bone-thin, and when Noodle looked at Darcie, she immediately thought of a china doll. Fragile.

"Murdoc!" Darcie cried, reaching towards her son.

"'ey, Mum." He bent towards her, allowing his mother to embrace him. "How're you doing?"

"The bell of triumph has flown to sea!" Darcie said happily.

"Good, huh? I'm glad." Mud said, sitting down on the bed. Not seeing another chair close to the bed, Noodle sat down next to him on the overstuffed quilt.

Darcie looked at Noodle and excitedly clasped her hands together. "Owl is the pearl?"

"Her name's Noodle. She wanted to come visit you."

"Hello, Miss Sullivan." Noodle said, bowing her head slightly. "It's very nice to meet you."

Darcie gave Noodle a large smile. "Bikewise."

" So Mum, I see they put you in bed already. Would ya like me to read you a story 'fore you go to sleep?"

Darcie nodded gleefully.

Mud pulled a large hardcover book from a small wooden bookcase in the sitting area, then sat down close to his mother. Holding the book so she could see the pictures, he began to read out loud to her.

"Once upon a time in mid winter, when the snowflakes were falling like feathers from heaven, a beautiful queen sat sewing at her window. As she sewed, she looked up at the snow and pricked her finger with her needle. Three drops of blood fell into the snow. The red on the white looked so beautiful, that she thought, "If only I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony." Soon afterward she had a little daughter that was as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony wood, and therefore they called her Snow White…"

When Mud had finished the story, Darcie was asleep. He turned out the lamp on the nightstand and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, Mum."

Noodle got off the bed and followed Mud into the sitting room as he put the book back on the shelf. "Rubbish things, fairy tales." said Mud as he sat down in one of the wingchairs. "But they make her so happy when I read one to her."

"She's like a child." Noodle said quietly. "How old is she?"

"Thirty-eight. She's been in here since she was thirteen. She's schizophrenic, and no medication seems to keep it under control. Sometimes when I come in, she's catatonic and doesn't even notice I'm there. Most of the time, she's like that; a little girl speedily heading for middle-age."

Noodle looked around, and her eyes fell on a photograph of an older man and woman in an ornate frame sitting on the table. "Are those her parents?"

"Yep. They pay for her room and treatment here. Without them, she'd probably be on the streets, since Jacob doesn't want anything to do with her."

"That's horrible." Noodle said. Suddenly, she cringed.

'_Noodle? Noodle, where are you?!'_

Her brain throbbed, and she gave a small whimper. It hurt so much…

"Noodle? What's wrong?" Mud asked.

"It's… my head. 2D-san!" Noodle cried through the haze of pain. "Please stop!"

The transparent apparition of a tall man suddenly walked through the wall of the room as if it didn't exist. The man became more opaque, and Mud recognized him as the eyeless blue-haired man.

"_Noodle!' _He shouted.

END: part SIX

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ:

Again with the evil cliffhanger of certain doom.

The sanitarium and Rachel Tusspot are both from 'Rise Of The Ogre'. Declan & MacManus, Attorneys-At-Law are a play on Elvis Costello's real name, Declan MacManus.

Lyrics from 'I'm Not Down' by the Clash. Chapter Title from Blondie's 'Parallel Lines' album.

Please leave a review. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record here...


	7. Tomorrow Comes Today

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By MarqueeMoonGirl_

part SEVEN: Tomorrow Comes Today

---

_Time may change me  
But you can't trace time. _

---

Noodle moaned again, clutching her head. "2D-san. " Her voice sounded strained.

2D knelt next to Noodle's chair, opposite from Mud. He was still transparent, an overlapping shadow in this time. _'I'm sorry, Noodle-luv!'_

Mud, vaguely aware that his mouth was hanging open, closed it. "What the hell are you doing?" It came out more hostile then he'd originally intended, but he didn't care. "Can't you see you bein' here is hurtin' her?!" He snapped.

2D shrank away from Mud, identical to the way he'd edged away from Mud's older self. '_I…er…_'

Mud growled like a feral animal. How dare that moron compare him to his forty-year-old self? He was nothing like that asshole. _Nothing_. His fingers curled into a fist. Ethereal or not, he'd knock out the rest of that…that _dullard's_ teeth.

Noodle whimpered as another wave of pain stuck. Mud suddenly felt incredibly guilty. She was in pain, and all he could think about was himself.

He bit his lip. Maybe the difference between forty-year-old Asshole Murdoc and himself wasn't as great as he'd first thought…

2D put a see-through hand on Noodle's leg. _'Oh, don't cry, darling.' _

Mud grunted as he felt what he now recognized as an impending time-jump. "Shit."

Noodle realized it too, and gripped Mud's hand tightly. "We're going back, Mud-kun." She said sadly.

Mud's mouth hardened into a severe frown. "Hoo-fucking-ray." The violently pink walls of Darcie's room at Belphagor Sanatorium suddenly fell away, dumping all three in the corridor of Kong Studios overlooking the landfill. The early morning sun was peeking over the crest of the landfill.

Russel was standing in front of the group holding a newspaper, large purple rings underneath his eyes. "'D? That you, man?"

2D stood up, leaving the two teenagers on the floor, clinging tightly to each other. "Yeah. Why wouldn't it be me?"

"Sleep deprivation is wacky shit, man. I've been seeing big hippos in pink tutus jumping around Kong for the last hour."

"Are you sure that ain't your meds kickin' in?" asked 2D. After taking painkillers for most of his life, the singer liked to think he had become an expert in drug side effects. He hadn't, of course, and Murdoc was more of an expert then 2D was, having used his incarceration in Mexico to peruse a PhD in pharmaceutical medicine by mail.

"Positive, 'D. It's the lack of sleep." Russel said, raking his fingers against his beard stubble. He needed to shave, but after a terrifying encounter with his electric razor at 5 AM, where his tired brain had hallucinated a large bee in place of the razor, he was hesitant to go back in there.

"Nah, I bet it's the drugs."

"For God's sake 'D, I haven't slept in two days!"

"Noodle, are you okay?" Mud asked as the two older men started to bicker.

She nodded. "I am fine, Mud-kun. My headache went away."

"Huh. That's weird."

Noodle gave a small laugh. "Mud-kun, nothing's been normal since that concert at the Evermore."

Mud grinned. "Got me there, girlie."

---

Murdoc silently scrolled down the scanned copy of the Devil's contract Mr. Declan's law office had sent to his e-mail address.

In a word, he was screwed. Even a slight deviation from the conditions of the contract would've landed him in an enormous mess. And he hadn't just strayed a little from the contract. Oh no. He'd broken nearly every single damn rule outlined in it.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid. _

Grimacing, he reached the bottom of the second to last page. The penalties section. What would happen if either party violated the terms listed.

If the Devil had violated the contract, he would relinquish any claims upon Murdoc's soul and still have to uphold his end of the contract. The Devil's bass guitar, El Diablo, would still belong to Murdoc, and his fame wouldn't waver.

But if Murdoc broke the deal, he gave the Devil the right to collect his soul at any time.

The King Of Hell could do anything He wanted to do with Murdoc. Absolutely anything.

Murdoc's eyes widened. _Oh shit._

With a high-pitched giggle, one of the small black-furred demons that ran around the studios crawled out from underneath his bed, its red eyes glowing brightly. The clawed fingers curled tightly around Murdoc's left wrist.

"Let go, you little fucker!" Grunting, Murdoc reached over with his free hand to grab a knife partly embedded in the closet door and thrust it towards the demon.

The demon scampered out of the path of the blade while still holding onto Murdoc. A dark look passed over the demon's face, and it opened its mouth, revealing sharp-edged fangs. With an ear-piercing shriek, it sank the fangs into Murdoc's arm.

Murdoc dropped the knife. The bite felt like he had plunged his arm into a scorching bonfire. His weapon gone, he banged his arm with the demon against the closet over and over in an attempt to dislodge the demon.

Despite the pounding, the large, bulbous eyes of the demon stared at him, and its fangs plunged deeper into his arm in retaliation.

With every beat of his heart, the poison the demon's fangs were pumping into his body set a little bit more of him on fire.

Weakening him…

With a yell, Murdoc grabbed the demon's head and forcefully pried it off of him. With all his remaining strength, he flung the demon away from him. It hit the windshield of the Winnebago, bounced off, and then scampered out of the mobile home unharmed, laughing.

Murdoc swore. Getting up from his bed, he stumbled a few steps, and then fell to his knees, the small room whirling around him.

He groaned, unable to move. Opening his eyes a sliver, Murdoc watched the bright red blood dribbling out of the wounds turn black. Not a good sign

_No. I don't want to go now. I'm supposed to have the rest of my life before I go to Hell._

"Should've thought of that before you broke our deal." A scratchy voice said behind him. "Even as it is, I think I'm giving you a break, Mr. Nicalls."

Murdoc forced his eyes shut. The Prince of Hell, Satan himself, in his Winnebago. He was royally fucked.

"This is an honor, really. And you're already partially demon thanks to your father's family; the changeover shouldn't take too long."

The red bulldog-like face of Satan leaned close to Murdoc, and he grinned. "But I am afraid it will be very, _very_ painful."

The back of Murdoc's charcoal shirt ripped as two large batlike wings stretched out from his shoulder blades.

Murdoc screamed.

---

Mud raised his head. "What the Hell is that?"

Noodle looked at him. "What?"

"Anyone else hear that?"

2D and Russel paused in their argument. "Hear wot?" The tall singer asked.

"It sounded like a scream." Mud said, sitting on the floor in front of the window, Noodle beside him.

2D made an attempt to look thoughtful. "I didn't hear anythi—"

Another tremor hit Kong, and the four scrambled to find something to hang onto until it passed. A yelping 2D and Russel clung to the doorframe of Noodle's room, while Mud and Noodle leaned against the window. Mud had her in a tight embrace, as if he thought the quake was trying to separate them.

His touch electrified her, and she buried her head against his chest. For most people, Noodle was the young Japanese girl who could play the guitar and then slay zombies with it. She was also the driving force behind the second album. She looked after her much-older bandmates. She held the band together.

But nobody likes doing all that all the time.

Sometimes Noodle just wanted to be held.

The tremor abruptly stopped. 2D and Russel let go of the door and sighed in unison. The two turned to look at the teenagers. "Noodle, are you all rig—?" 2D started.

Mud and Noodle were still in front of the window, in each other's arms.

2D blushed. "Oh." Russel laughed. "They're fine, 'D." He gave the singer a playful punch. "C'mon man, let's go get Murdoc out of the Winnie. We need to have a talk with him."

END: part SEVEN

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ: Hooray for snow days! I got both this chapter and chapter six done on snow days. We need more, though.

Obviosuly, the chapter title is from Gorillaz debut album. The lyrics are David Bowie's 'Changes'. Pretty appropriate for what happened to Murdoc in this part.

Annnnd… LEAVE A REVIEW! PLEASE! Don't make me beg. : (


	8. Elevation

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By MarqueeMoonGirl_

part EIGHT: Elevation

---

_It's so easy to blow up your problems  
It's so easy to play up your breakdown  
It's so easy to fly through a window  
It's so easy to fool with the sound  
_

---

"So wot are you gonna say to 'im, Russ?" 2D asked, following the large man down the stairs. With the earthquakes coming stronger, they had decided not to use the lift. The singer lightly jumped over a large chunk of the ceiling that had fallen into the stairwell.

Russel shrugged. "Something weird's going on here, and I get the feeling Murdoc knows something but he isn't telling us what, you know?"

The drummer got a blank stare in return. 2D scratched his chin in an attempt to look thoughtful. "Er. No, I don't know."

Behind the singer, Mud made an irritated noise. "Jesus Christ."

Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but to Russel the teenager's voice had sounded exactly like his older self's for a brief moment. That tone of disgust, self-loathing, and resentment at the world…

Russel put it out of his mind. He might be a little younger, but the kid was still Murdoc Niccals. There would be at least a few similarities between the teenager and the man he would become…

…Sweet mother of _God_…

With a start, he suddenly turned around and grabbed Mud's arms tightly, dragging the teenager until there was less then an inch of space between their faces. "You lay one finger, ONE FINGER, on the wrong part of Noodle and I swear I'll rip off your hands and bury them in the landfill. Are we clear on that?"

Before Mud could respond, a dark thought passed through the drummer's mind. He lifted the teenager off the ground by the collar of his jacket. "You haven't tried to do anything to her before, have you?" His voice was dangerously quiet.

Noodle ran to Russel and tugged as hard as she could on his sleeve. "Put him down, Russel-san!"

Not hearing the girl's plea, Russel shook the teenager. "Have you?!"

"No!" Mud gasped.

"Russel-san!" Noodle shouted, her voice echoing in the corridor. _Russel-san! Russel-san! _When it faded away, all four stood silently, not moving.

Russel relaxed his grip on Mud's jacket, and the teenager fell to the cement step he had been plucked off of. His eyes glared up at the drummer. "I would never do anything to hurt Noodle." He said quietly, then stood up. Still glaring at Russel, he snapped, "But I'm not makin' any promises about _you_, though!"

"Mud-kun." Noodle gasped, her eyes wide.

He suddenly turned away from the growling drummer, embarrassed. "Oh God." He nervously ran his fingers through his greasy black hair. '_I'm a monster. No denying that.'_

Mud felt someone gently put their hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see the blue-haired man behind him, a small but understanding smile on his face. "Don't worry about it, Murdoc. We know you didn't mean that."

Mud stayed silent. For a few seconds, he had meant it. He wouldn't have said it if he hadn't.

The group reached the bottom of the stairwell. The metal door leading to the carpark stood in front of them. Ignoring the large 'SOD OFF 2D' graffiti Mud was reasonably sure was the work of his older self, the tall man reached for the handle and swung open the door.

Mud felt a sudden tightness in his chest. "Something's wrong." He found himself saying.

Walking cautiously into the Carpark, 2D looked around, looking for anything out of place. With the exception of some debris from the ceiling, nothing unusual seemed to be going on. "I dunno. Looks fine."

Noodle gasped. "The Winnebago!" She shouted.

The door had been torn off the hinges attaching it to Winnebago and was lying on the cement floor a few feet away.

"Shit." Russel said, then broke into a run. The rest followed closely behind the large man.

The outside of the Winnebago was a mess. "Oh no." 2D said. "Where's Murdoc?" He stuck his head into the Winnebago, then pulled the rest of him into Murdoc's home. A few seconds later, he came out again. "He's not here!"

"He's not?" Russel said

"No, and the place is absolutely trashed. Looks like a bomb exploded!" 2D gulped. "And there's blood on the carpet. A lot of blood."

Russel swore again, then barreled into the Winnebago. Not a particularly tidy place to start, it now resembled the aftermath of a natural disaster more then a home. Ripped clothing, broken records, and torn paper littered the floor, the seats lining one side had been slashed beyond recognition, and the small amp Murdoc kept in his Winnebago had been torn apart, a large knife and several darts sticking out the side. Only his bedroom appeared undisturbed.

Directly in front of Russel's feet was a puddle of wet blood. The intense coppery smell almost knocked him over.

Noodle climbed in, followed by Mud, and they stood in the doorway surveying the damage. Mud avoided looking at the bloodstain.

"It doesn't normally look like this, does it?" Mud asked, gently prodding a worn copy of Dante's Inferno with his foot.

"No," replied Noodle. "Although sometimes it's not much better."

"Oh, thank God."

Noodle bent down to pick of a yellowing piece of lined paper from the floor. "'All of which makes me anxious…'" She read.

"At times, unbearably so." Mud finished, pulling the knife out of the amp. The sheath was lying next to the amp, and he slid it over the blade. Looking at it, he placed it through one of the belt-loops of his jeans. He might need it later.

Noodle let the paper drift back down to the floor. "Mudroc-san's computer." It was still on his bed, the screen lighting up a small part of his bedroom.

"A what?"

She pointed towards the laptop. "That."

Mud stared at the svelte laptop. "I thought a computer looked more like a toaster oven banging a TV set."

"Technology is amazing, Mud-kun."

---

Russel took the black laptop outside of the Winnebago and pulled up a small wooden crate for it to sit on. The rest crowded around him as he raised the screen and moved his fingers around the touchpad to get rid of the screensaver. He found himself looking at a scan of a neatly typed, but yellowing document.

"'If the party of the first part…'" He read. "This is a contract."

"Between Murdoc and who?" 2D asked, his black eyes scanning through the text.

Russel scrolled down to the last page, which had two large signatures at the bottom. One was Murdoc's. The other one… "The Devil."

Mud shook his head. "Motherfu—"

A large chunk of cement suddenly came loose and fell on the laptop, crushing both it and the crate. A large cloud of dust sprang up around the group.

"Holy shit." Russel coughed out, staring at the twisted plastic and metal remains of the computer. He suddenly moved away as it gently began to smolder.

The tight feeling in Mud's stomach suddenly came back. Picking up a small piece of rubble, he threw it into the new hole in the ceiling. He heard it bounce off something and a high-pitched squeal of surprise, then the sound of claws on cement scurrying away. Russel looked up as the sound passed over his head.

"Either this place has rats like you wouldn't believe or something just tried to kill us." Mud said.

"I bet it's the demons." 2D said. "I hate those things."

"Yeah, and it looks like they hate you right back." Mud said.

Behind them, another section of the ceiling fell. This time, Mud could hear a high-pitched giggle as the cement gave way.

"Lousy fuckers!" Mud shouted as another cloud of dust surrounded them. Coughing, the four looked up in unison as something whished by overhead. It sounded like large wings flapping…

Mud took the knife from his jeans and tossed the sheath away. He held it in front of him.

Another flap...

Dammit, why was it taking so long for the dust to clear?

Mud could barely make out a human-like shape…

The cloud suddenly fell away.

"No…" Noodle said.

Above their heads was a transformed Murdoc Niccals. Two large bat-like wings were beating furiously to keep him aloft. His olive skin had deepened into a darker shade of green, and two small horns were barely visible poking through his graying hair. He stared down at them with empty eyes, the inverted crucifix swinging wildly over the tattered remains of his grey shirt.

Mud stared. If this was his future, he wanted to die young.

2D's jaw dropped. "Oh my God Murdoc!" He yelled. "What happened to you?!"

Murdoc's face twisted into demonic rage at the sound of the singer's voice, and with a screech unlike anything they'd heard before, he dove towards them, brandishing long, curved claws that had up until recently been fingernails.

END: part EIGHT

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ: Just thought I'd let everyone know that this story has passed 1,500 pagehits. WOW. Thanks, guys!

Shameless plugging here, but I have an account on DeviantArt as well, with a drawing of Mud and Noodle from Part One of 'A Man Out Of Time', along with other Gorillaz fanart. If you would like to see my dA gallery, it's at:

www(dot)marqueemoongirl(dot)deviantart(dot)com

Replace the (dot) with actual periods, and there you go.

Chapter title comes from Television's 'Marquee Moon' album, and the lyrics are The Car's 'Moving In Stereo'. I love my 'The Cars Unlocked' live DVD. In fact, I probably love it a little too much: I slipped on the floor while dancing to it and injured my foot. Ow.

Leave a review please. : )


	9. Complicated Game

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By MarqueeMoonGirl_

part NINE: Complicated Game

---

_Straight to hell  
Oh Papa-san  
Please take me home  
Oh Papa-san  
Everybody they wanna go home_  
---

The group stood stunned for a second, until Noodle let out a piercing yell. "Move!"

Immediately all four darted in different directions, and Murdoc, hissing loudly, pulled up again, the large wings that had sprouted from his shoulders beating in a hard rhythm.

"Jesus Christ, asshat!" Mud yelled angrily while waving the knife, and Murdoc's head snapped towards him. "You fucked up my life! You fucked up _every single damn part of my life_!"

_Caw! Caw!_ Cortez, the black raven Murdoc kept as a pet, shot out of the entrance to the bunker and headed straight for Murdoc.

Murdoc, not understanding the words that Mud was screaming at him, just reacting the loud noises coming out of his mouth, growled again. Before Mud could react, the demon was in front of him, the claws ripping into the thin material of his shirt. The bird was attacking Murdoc with his talons, and succeeded in covering Murdoc's face with dozens of shallow cuts. Angrily, Murdoc thrust his arm out and knocked the raven out of the air, sending the poor animal shooting over Noodle's head.

"Oh no! Cortez!" Noodle cried, picking up the limp bird.

"Motherfucker!" Mud yelled, stumbling backward. He blindly waved the knife at Murdoc, not expecting it to really hurt the demon.

When Murdoc gave a horrible animal yowl and recoiled from the teenager as a thin line of black blood appeared across his chest, Mud almost wet himself in fright. He tripped over a piece of cement from the ceiling, whacking his head against it. "Ow!"

Murdoc looked down quizzically at the shallow cut, as if he'd never seen his own blood before.

Taking the opportunity, Noodle dashed towards Mud with Cortez under her arm and hauled the confused boy away from her demonic bandmate.

Despite himself, Mud stared at the wound as well, his head pounding. "It's…black."

"Demon blood." Noodle said. "There's some on your knife too."

The raven's head slowly rose, and it cawed weakly, fixing two beady eyes on Murdoc.

Murdoc looked up at the injured bird, and all the rage seemed to drain out of him. He dropped to his knees, the two enormous wings behind him lowering.

"Mur…doc?" 2D asked. "You OK now?"

The bassist stiffened, but he didn't launch himself at the singer's throat. Demon or not, 2D decided that this was a good sign.

"What the hell's goin' on?" Russel asked quietly.

Mud looked down at his ripped shirt. "I dunno. I think he tried to take out a lung."

Murdoc silently extended one arm towards Noodle. The large raven wiggled out from under her arm and erratically flew towards its master, perching on his outstretched forearm. Cortez cawed again.

2D looked very lost. "Bleedin' hell! First he beats the shit out of that bird and now 'e's cuddlin' with it!"

Murdoc shot 2D and Mud a dirty look and bared his fangs.

Noodle gently pulled them away from Murdoc. "There's no telling how long this peaceful mood will last. It may be best to not antagonize Murdoc-san right now."

The four stood several yards away from Murdoc, watching him stroke the enormous bird on his arm warily.

"What do we do now?" 2D finally asked.

"No idea." Russel sighed. "The person best suited to dealing with something like this is Murdoc, and he's not really in a position to help us right now."

"_He_ may not be," 2D said, pointing at the demon Murdoc, "But we've got a spare."

The drummer and the singer looked over their shoulders at Noodle supporting the teenaged Murdoc Niccals.

"Huh?" Mud said weakly.

"Good thinking 'D!" Russel said, slapping the lanky singer's back.

"Ow." 2D said.

"Little Murdoc. Mud. Whatever. What do you know about demons?" Russel asked.

"Uh. They're bad and they come from Hell." Mud said, his head still spinning from his injury.

Russel shook his head. "That's not much help."

Mud huffed. "I'm sixteen. Yes, of course I know everything that my much older, forty-year-old asshole self knows. I can't even play my bass _well_ yet! "

Russel sighed. "Sorry, man. It was worth a shot."

"Screw the shot. We need help from someone who knows what they're doing." Mud snapped.

Cortez flapped off from Murdoc's arm, and landed on Noodle's head, nibbling on a strand of purple hair. She looked up. "Cortez?"

The raven squawked and flew off her head, back through the crack in the wall of the carpark. He cawed again, the noise echoing in the tunnel behind the wall. To the group's surprise, Murdoc gave a bloodthirsty snarl. His wings snapped up again, and he shot into the entrance to the bunker, following Cortez. They could hear two sets of wings flap down the lift shaft.

"I think he wants us to go into the bunker." Noodle said.

"Why would we go down there?" 2D asked.

"Maybe because of the Hellhole?" Russel suggested.

"The what-what?" Mud asked, baffled.

"The entrance to Hell we have in the bunker." Noodle explained. "We think it's partially responsible for attracting supernatural forces to Kong."

Mud didn't look convinced. "Oh."

---

To the four's surprise, Murdoc and Cortez were waiting for them once the lift had brought them into the bunker underneath Kong Studios. Murdoc sneered, as if to say '_Bout time you lot got down here_'.

Motioning for the others to stay on the lift for a moment, Noodle stepped in front of the group. "Murdoc-san?"

The demon's bloodshot eyes stared at her.

"You can still understand me, yes? Even though you can't talk anymore?"

Murdoc's horned head dipped. Yes.

"Good. Then make me a promise." Noodle's green eyes flickered from Cortez to Murdoc. "Swear to me you won't hurt any of us. That what you're leading us to is a way to save you, not a trap." Noodle thrust out her right hand, the pinky finger up.

Whenever she'd wanted to make a promise with her three bandmates when she'd first arrived at Kong as an eight-year-old, Noodle had made them pinky swear. 2D, Russel, and Murdoc had thought of it as cute, mainly because they hadn't been able to understand a word Noodle'd said to them. If they'd known what Noodle'd asked of them, they probably would've found it decidedly less cute.

Now, Noodle was deadly serious. Murdoc looked at her, his expression softening. Slowly, he hooked a clawed pinky finger around Noodle's and tugged.

At this small action, Noodle felt her eyes begin to water. '_Oh no, not now._' It was too late. The tears came pouring out of her eyes. '_I really hate being so emotional like this…'_

Releasing her pinky finger, Murdoc looked at the claws on the ends of his fingers then dejectedly at the weeping Japanese girl. He couldn't touch her without running the risk of accidentally scratching her back or ripping her clothes. His shoulders and wings drooped.

Seeing his older self's dilemma, Mud rushed off the lift and embraced her tightly. "Oh Noodle." He said. "This isn't your fault. Please don't cry."

Noodle wrapped her arms tightly around Mud. "I'm so sorry, Murdoc." She said quietly, then sniffled. "We should go." She said louder. "I'll be fine."

Mud accepted the tissue 2D had slipped him, blotting the tears off her face. "You ready now?"

"_Hai_."

Mud looked at 2D and Russel. "You two ready?"

Russel nodded. "Ready."

The singer grinned. "Me too!"

Still embracing Noodle, Mud looked at the demon. "Murdoc…?"

Murdoc and Cortez rose into the air and flew towards Level Zero.

The Hellhole.

END: part NINE

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ: Sorry for the wait. School and stuff got in the way. I don't think this chapter wanted to be written, since I've been wrestling it into submission for a couple days now. Hooray! Now the chapter is done!

The chapter title is from XTC's 'Drums and Wires' album, while the lyrics are from The Clash's 'Straight To Hell'.

_Veuillez passer en revue ce chapitre! _("Please review this chapter!")


	10. Accidents Will Happen

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By MarqueeMoonGirl_

part TEN: Accidents Will Happen

---

_Aggravated - spare for days  
I troll downtown the red light place  
Jump up bubble up - what´s in store  
Love is the drug and I need to score  
_

---

Several large pipes nosily rumbled overhead in the bunker's boiler room as 2D, Russel, Noodle and Mud stopped at the entrance to Level Zero. Murdoc's skinny legs dangled down from the pipes, his demonic eyes staring down at them. On his shoulder was Cortez.

Grinning wickedly, Mud grabbed Murdoc's ankle and yanked on it hard, eliciting a hiss from the demon. "C'mon, old man."

Murdoc growled something that almost sounded like 'forty is not old', but he dropped from the pipes and glided into Level Zero.

The four humans followed him in, gasping as a wave of heat pushed past them.

"I'd forgotten just how hot this place is." Noodle said, flushed, looking at the fiery pit in the center of the room.

"I think it's gotten hotter since the last time we were in here." Russel said, taking off his hat to wipe his forehead.

2D's blue hair was already plastered to his head with sweat. "Oof. Me too."

Mud was also staring at the Hellhole with wide eyes. "We're supposed to go down that?!" He asked incredulously. "How? We'd get burned to a crisp!"

Noodle looked up as Murdoc flew over so that he was directly over the Hellhole. He made a fist with his hand, and then thrust it into the Hellhole.

2D gasped. "Murdoc, no!"

Shooting the singer an irritated glance, Murdoc pulled his arm out of the Hellhole unscathed, small drops of red-hot magma running down it. He picked a small animal skull up from the charred ground surrounding the pit and held it inside the Hellhole for a few seconds.

When Murdoc brought the skull out, it hadn't been harmed at all.

With a small smirk, Murdoc dropped it back in. The four watched silently as the skull crumpled into ashes as soon as it left Murdoc's hand.

"OK then." 2D gulped. " I guess we'll just have to not get separated from Murdoc once we go down the Hellhole." He shuddered, thinking about the skull disintegrating. "Ever."

Murdoc flew back and roughly landed on the concrete stairs leading down to the Hellhole. Cortez, perched on a small security camera pointed at the Hellhole, cawed and then flew over the Hellhole, lazily circling it.

Then the raven shot down into the fiery crater.

Noodle gasped. "Cortez!"

The hellhole rumbled, gently at first but with growing aggression.

"That's not good, is it?" 2D shouted.

"No. The Hellhole rumbling is never good." Noodle shouted back.

"Great."

Something rocketed out of the Hellhole, much too big to be Murdoc's pet raven. Two sets of wings quivered as the magma rolled down the figure's back.

What was crouched in front of the Hellhole was most certainly a demon. Its bulbous eyes blinked up at the group, allowing them to see its face. Unlike Murdoc, this demon was truly monstrous. Its dark red face resembled a dog's, and two long horns poked out of its head. After a few moments, it stood up, revealing its most noticeable asset.

Noodle looked away, feeling herself blush.

"Holy _shit_, that's a colossal penis." Mud blurted out. His eyes went wide as his thoughts clicked into place. "Hey, you're that demon! The one who has that statue outside of this place. Panfluflu…or something like that."

"Pazuzu. Yes. That would be me." The demon's voice sounded light and airy, and not at all like Murdoc's guttural voice.

Noodle looked up at the demon."…I think I see. You are Cortez." Noodle said. "Why would you pretend to be a bird?"

"An appropriate form for the Demon King Of The Four Winds, I think. And why? To protect Murdoc, without his knowledge, per the Big Guy Downstairs' orders."

Murdoc frowned, while Mud snorted, looking at his older self's large wings. "Yeah, well, you didn't do a very good job."

Pazuzu's brows shot up in surprise, and it approached Mud.

Grimacing, Mud stared at the demon, wrapping his fingers around the hilt of the knife.

"This is…very interesting." Pazuzu circled the teenage boy, looking down at him. "I didn't see this before. A raven's eyesight is not very good." It said, its eyes little slits. "A little far from home, aren't you, Murdoc? Two and a half decades too far."

"What does that matter? Everything else's gone nutty around here." Mud spat back.

Noodle reached out and touched Mud's bare arm. The teenage boy looked at her, and sighed, allowing her to address Pazuzu. "We would like to get Murdoc turned back into a human. He thinks we can go down the Hellhole and do _something_, I do not know what, to change him back."

Pazuzu looked thoughtful. "Maybe. Getting you down to Hell would be a little tricky, but it's doable."

Russel sighed in relief. "Oh, that's great. So how do we get down there?"

"Well, that's quite simple. You die."

2D, Russel, Murdoc Noodle and Mud stared at Pazuzu in undisguised horror.

"What? Is that a problem?"

"Well, yeah actually. I think we were kind of hoping for a, you know, _non-lethal_ way to get down there." Mud said. "Plus, if I die now as a teenager, I won't grow up to be turned into a demon and go down to Hell in the first place. Then all of the known universe would implode upon itself from the paradox, which I'm sure would be a _huge_ inconvenience for The Big Man Upstairs and His Opposite Number to sort out."

Pazuzu scratched its chin with a claw. "…Yes. You have a point."

Mud smiled at Noodle. "See?"

"…We'll just have to leave you behind."

Mud let out a frustrated scream. "Look, we already know that anything Murdoc touches doesn't get burned by the Hellhole. Which is a direct gateway into the bowels of Hell. Can't we just go down that?"

Pazuzu's wings drooped. "Oh. I…erm, hadn't thought of that." It looked almost embarrassed. "Of course that would be a more appealing option to you." The demon eyed the small group. "Hmm. But I see a small flaw. Even with Murdoc helping me, I doubt we could get all of you down, at the same time. You, in particular." It pointed towards Russel. "I'm sorry, but your girth would be too much for either of us to handle, and we can't make two trips. You'll have to stay behind."

The drummer looked away, saddened. "I figured as much."

"Russel-san, I'm sorry." Noodle said.

"No, it's alright, guys. I'd probably just slow the rest of you down. This way I can keep an eye on Kong. Make sure nothin' explodes while you're all down there trying to get Murdoc's humanity back."

"All right then. Let me see." Without warning, Pazuzu scooped up 2D and Mud underneath its arms, resulting in an indignant 'HEY!' from the teenaged boy. Its wings took a few experimental flaps to test the weight. "This is about my limit. Murdoc, you'll have to carry the girl."

Not looking at Noodle, the demon bassist kneeled down. Trying to avoid touching the thin membrane of his wings, Noodle lightly climbed onto Murdoc's back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Russel tapped Murdoc's shoulder. "Look. If things start getting bad down there, for once in your life, don't be a selfish bastard, man. Don't forget, that's what got you into this mess in the first place."

Murdoc scowled and looked away, snarling something unintelligible but no doubt nasty.

"Excuse me, ladies?" Mud said irritably, dangling from Pazuzu's arm. "Can we get on with this?"

Still scowling, Murdoc flew over to the Hellhole. Pazuzu extended a bony arm. "After you, my friend."

Noodle clenched her arms tightly around Murdoc's neck. "Go!"

On that word, Murdoc's wings folded neatly, and he dove face first into the hole.

Noodle cried out as the intensity of the hellfire assaulted her eyes. Squeezing her eyes firmly shut, she felt waves of heat rush over her as Murdoc glided down the Hellhole.

Then it was over.

Noodle cautiously opened her eyes, and immediately wished she hadn't. Trying to blot out the image of a damned soul being lowered into a pit of volcanic lava from her mind, she looked back as Pazuzu dropped down from the Hellhole. Noodle gasped. A deathly-pale 2D clung to one arm, trembling. But there was no sign of Mud.

"The firestorm was more intense then I expected." Pazuzu explained hurriedly. "I barely managed to keep my grip on this one. The other …slipped away."

Noodle's mouth formed the word 'no', but she found herself unable to speak.

Murdoc roared something at the demon, but was interrupted by a loud thump behind him.

Lying flat on his back, directly underneath hellhole's exit, was Mud, untouched by the Hellhole's extreme heat and fire. He sat up, looking very disoriented. "OK, how the fuck am I not dead?"

END: part TEN

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ: Sorry for the delay. I have a lot of schoolwork (and college stuff) to work on, and they ate into my free time like you wouldn't believe.

Chapter title is from Elvis Costello's 'Armed Forces' album, and the lyrics are Roxy Music's 'Love Is The Drug'. No reason why I picked it, I just like the song. :D

And as always, reviews are really really nice.


	11. Burning For You

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By MarqueeMoonGirl_

part ELEVEN: Burning For You

---

_The roses in the window box  
Have tilted to one side  
Everything about this house  
Was born to grow and die_

---

Mud sat on the hard ground, gasping, trying to force some air back into his lungs. Sweat poured off of his head and he wiped at it with his hands, accidentally re-opening the small cuts the zombies had given him only a few hours ago. He bit his lip as beads of perspiration mixed in with the blood. His shirt and jeans were slightly charred and crispy, but other then that, nothing bad had happened to him.

2D and Noodle looked shocked. "But…but…but…" 2D stammered, then turned around to look at Murdoc. "_How_?" Murdoc frowned and looked away, refusing to look at the singer.

"If you think about it, the answer is obvious, isn't it?" Pazuzu said. "Only demons can pass through the gates of Hell unharmed, thus, little Mud must have some demonic blood running through his veins already." He looked at Mud's singed clothing. "Not a lot, though."

The demon reached towards him, and Mud visibly flinched. Pazuzu 'tsked' loudly. "Come now. I won't hurt you." One of his claws lightly passed over a cut on Mud's face, taking just a drop of blood, hanging in the air above his claw.

The demon rumbled a word, and the blood split into four smaller beads – three were a normal red color, but one was an inky black.

Mud stared transfixed as the one black drop, his mouth hanging open.

"One of your parents was a full-blooded human," the demon said, moving two of the red drops out of the way, leaving a red drop and the black drop, "but the other had a parent who was a demon." Pazuzu paused for a moment, and then waved his hands. All of the drops splattered on the hot ground.

The group was silent for a moment. Murdoc met the gaze of his younger self, and slowly nodded.

Mud swallowed loudly. "T-there was a rumor, when my dad was born, that his father had been an incubus, a night demon that impregnates young women, since his mum was unmarried and denied sleeping with anyone." He swallowed again. "And the fact that my dad had no pulse or no breath when he was a kid, but was somehow still alive also made some people…kind of uneasy, y'know?"

Noodle grasped Mud's hand tightly in her own and squeezed.

"Dad never said me anything about it, but a childhood, uh, "friend" of his told my older brother once. Of course Hannibal thought it was complete bullcrap, but I...Hell, even as a seven-year-old, I could see that Jacob, Hannibal, and myself weren't like normal people." Mud sniffled. "No person I ever saw had pointed teeth, or one red eye, or olive skin so green they looked like an actual fucking olive."

He shook his head and then stood up. "Whatever. Let's go and get this over with."

With that, Pazuzu's wings spread, and he flew up into the air.

The four on the ground looked up at the demon circled overhead and shouted down something, his voice drowned out by the sounds of fire, other demons laughing, and the screams of the damned.

"I think he wants us to follow 'im." 2D said. Murdoc lightly struck the back of 2D's head with his fist and growled.

"No kidding." Mud said flatly, unconsciously translating Murdoc's demonic snarl.

Trying to block out the surrounding landscape, Noodle attempted to signal to Pazuzu that he could lead the way. The demon made a small circle in the air and idly veered into a new direction.

His wings tucked neatly behind him, Murdoc set off running after the demon, 2D, Noodle and Mud behind him.

---

Crouching on shiny black volcanic rock, Murdoc deftly sprung across a large pit of magma, Noodle on his back. He paused just long enough for Mud to help Noodle to get off, then flew back across to the other side, where a frightened 2D slowly got on.

Mud grimaced when he saw the malicious glint in his older self's eyes. _Oh God…_

Almost skimming across the lava, Murdoc laughed when the singer whimpered, his eyes wide with fright, the lava filling his vision. Watching the bassist terrify poor 2D, Noodle gave an almost inaudible sigh, then shouted sharply, "Murdoc-san!"

Frowning, Murdoc shot up from the magma, eliciting a startled scream from 2D, and then landed on the volcanic rock in front of the small group. Murdoc laughed again when 2D fell off of Murdoc's back and landed spread-eagle on the hot stone.

Noodle glared at him through her bangs. "If you don't remember, we are here to restore your humanity." She paused. "We are _not_ here to scare 2D to death!" She shouted angrily, her green eyes alight. Behind her, Mud shook his head and helped a wobbly 2D to his feet.

Murdoc pulled away from the teenage girl. "Didn't mean to." He mumbled in a rumbling voice.

Noodle paused, the anger draining out of her as she stared quizzically at him. Those were the first comprehensible words Murdoc'd spoken since he'd been turned into a demon.

Perched on a large rock above them, Pazuzu howled to get their attention, and then flew into the air.

Mud pulled at her arm. "C'mon Noods, Panflute's getting antsy."

"Pazuzu." Noodle corrected.

"I like Panflute better."

---

Pazuzu finally led the tired and sweating group to their destination. Mud, Noodle and 2D gaped at the plain white metal door, fitted into the side of a large rock outcropping. It stood out from the surroundings like only a white door in red rock could.

"You're not serious." Mud said.

"Of course I am." Pazuzu grasped the small gold doorknob and turned. Opening the door, he herded the rest of the group into a small, non-Hell-like waiting room. The walls were painted white with small framed pictures of mountains hanging, the floor was a carpeted beige, a small row of chairs stood at one end, and a small air-conditioner made the temperature almost bearable for 2D, Noodle and Mud. Except for the small red demon receptionists typing away at computers behind a large counter, it wouldn't have looked out of place on Earth.

One of the demons popped up from behind the counter and looked at Pazuzu. "Can I help you?" It asked professionally.

"Murdoc Nicalls and three guests are here to see Mr. Satan."

"Ah.." The demon said. "He's in a meeting right now, so please, have a seat. I'll let him know they've arrived."

"Thank you." Pazuzu said, then turned back to the group. "You heard the demon. Sit down."

2D, Noodle and Mud sat down in the chairs, with only Murdoc still standing. His wings wouldn't be able to fit in the chair.

"I'm afraid that this is where I must go." Pazuzu said. "I've already helped you much more then I was supposed to, and though I have no doubt my superior'll eventually have my horns for this, I would like to delay him finding out for as long as possible."

"Thank you." 2D said.

"We appreciate all you've done for us." Noodle said gratefully.

"Yeah, you're pretty cool for a God Of The Demon Winds." Mud said.

Pazuzu's snout curled up into what almost looked like a smile. "Good luck to all of you." The demon seemed to twist up into himself, and a large black raven took his place. A small hole formed in one of the walls, and the bird flew through the opening.

That left the four of them to wait. Noodle listened to the soft rock that was coming from a small speaker in the ceiling above her head. Next to her, Mud grimaced as Supertramp's 'Breakfast In America' began.

_'Take a look at my girlfriend  
She's the only one I got  
Not much of a girlfriend  
Never seem to get along._

Take a jumbo cross the water  
Like to see America  
See the girls in California  
I´m hoping it´s going to come true  
But there´s not a lot I can do...'

"I knew that this would be a song they'd play in Hell." He grumbled.

2D noticed a small basket of magazines next to his chair, took one out and opened it. He stared at the opened pages for a second, then closed the magazine and slipped it back into the basket, acting like he hadn't just seen a very graphic two-page spread of a decomposing man having his eyes and ears gouged out by a dinner fork-wielding demon.

One of the small red demons sprung up from behind the counter. "The Devil will see you now."

END: part ELEVEN

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ: I'd like to take a moment to thank all the readers and reviewers who've been waiting patiently for me to update and who have _not_ left me reviews praising my story while cursing me out and saying that I would ruin this story because I "can't frickin' update on time".

First off, I wasn't aware that I was under a deadline. I update when I update, like everybody else.

And amazing as this may seem, I do, in fact, _**have a life away from the computer**_

Incredible, I know.

I won't bore you with specifics, but that life has been very busy lately. I'm sorry if I don't update enough for your liking, but please _please __**please**__ be patient_. If it helps, you have my promise that I won't abandon this story. Remember, this is just a work of fanfiction, and not a cure for cancer.

Chapter title is from Blue Oyster Cult's 'Fire Of Unknown Origin' album. Lyrics are from Elton John's 'Funeral For A Friend (Love Lies Bleeding)'.


	12. Policy Of Truth

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By MarqueeMoonGirl_

part TWELVE: Policy Of Truth

---

_I could give you anything  
I would give you anything  
I can give you anything but time.  
_

---

A door next to the demon receptionist's desk slowly swung open. Inside there was nothing but pure darkness, almost as if nothing existed on the other side.

"Walk until you reach his office down at the end of the hallway." The demon continued. "However, a warning: do not try to turn around once you pass through that door."

"Or what?" 2D asked worriedly. "What'll happen to us if we do?"

"I can't tell you that, moron. If I could, I wouldn't be so bloody cryptic in the first place, now would I?" The demon snapped irritably. "Just take my advice: it's not something you'd want to do if you ever want to see the sun rise again, fleshbag."

2D made an alarmed noise in his throat. " 'If I ever want to see'…? "

Behind him, the demonic Murdoc groaned, gently rubbing at his temples with his clawed fingers before hoisting a surprised 2D up by his belt and flying through the doorway, 2D's mangled scream suddenly cut off as the two disappeared into the emptiness.

The demon grinned, and then scampered back to its computer, leaving Mud and Noodle standing in front of the open door alone.

"I feel kind of ill." Mud admitted. "I think the sheer magnitude of what we're trying to do juuust sank in."

"Have faith, Mud-kun." Noodle's expression was sympathetic. "I will not let this happen to you."

Instead of looking consoled, Mud looked more troubled. He bit his lip. "Look, Noodle, in the end, _I'm _ultimately responsible for what I did with my life, not you. What I mean is…I think you're amazing, being with you in Stoke just made me feel a hell of a lot better then I have in a really fucking long time, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you once we get in _there_." He pointed towards the door.

Noodle laughed. "Mud-kun, I assure you, I was not planning on offering the Devil my soul."

"Just so we're clear." He grinned.

"Very clear." She smiled uneasily, then took a deep breath to mentally steady herself for what laid ahead beyond the door. "Are you ready, Mud-kun?" She took a step towards the door.

"No." Mud pulled on her arm, and she turned to look at him quizzically. "Not yet." His fingers underneath her chin, he gently brought her face up to his, and kissed her. His hands slid down to wrap around her tiny waist, and she leaned into his chest. He was so warm…

Mud pulled away slowly, before sighing and resting his chin on top of her head. "God Noodle, this could be the last time I get a chance to hold you like this." He breathed lightly into her hair. "I wish I had something to give yo—"

Noodle placed two fingers across his lips, silencing him. "But the memory of this is all I need." She kissed his cheek and stepped back.

A lean teenage boy with olive-green skin covered in small cuts, a lightly charred black t-shirt, torn jeans, messy black hair, and mismatched eyes smiled at her. He held out his hand, and she grasped it tightly.

' _I will never let you go.'_

And together, Noodle and Mud stepped through the door and were swallowed up by the darkness.

Behind the counter, the receptionist demon looked up from the spreadsheet it was working on and sniffed wearily. "Ugh. Thought they'd never leave." It muttered before returning to work.

---

The first thing they saw was a pair of large glass doors at the end of a light marble hallway. A small gold plaque in the wall read 'Satan, Lord of Darkness'.

Then the immense three-headed dog tethered next to the door by a thick chain stirred in its sleep. A glob of drool from the topmost head rolled down from its mouth, landing on the ear of the lowest head.

"Aw shit." Mud said. "It's almost like he doesn't want any company."

"2D and Murdoc must've gotten by that thing somehow."

"Or he's sleeping them off after _killing_ and _eating_ them."

"Have faith, Mud-kun." Noodle broke off into a run.

The guardian dog Cerberus, instantly awake, shot up to its feet and snarled, three sets of teeth snapping wildly. It dashed towards Noodle, its large paws thudding loudly against the marble floor.

She stopped in her tracks, temporarily stunned as she watched Cerberus advance.

"NOODLE!"

Mud's voice cut through her thoughts, reaching back into her memories. Breathing loudly, she loudly sang out the first thing that came to mind.

"_You've got to press it on you, you just think it, that's what you do, baby. Hold it down, DARE_."

The dog stopped in its tracks just before it reached Noodle. Six large red eyes looked up at her, bewildered. To Mud's amazement, the dog laid down on the floor in front of her.

Noodle swallowed, and began to perform a half-hearted rendition of the DARE dance in front of the devil dog. "_Jump with them all and move it. Jump back and forth, and feel like you were there yourself. Work it out_."

The lowest head sank down to the floor, soundly asleep.

"_It's coming up_…"

The right head lolled around, out cold.

"_It's coming up_…"

Finally, the eyelids of the last head drooped closed.

"_It's DARE_." Noodle whispered, sidestepping around the sleeping Cerberus. Mud quietly followed her to the doors.

"I remember Murdoc once told me that music puts it to sleep. So does singing, apparently." Noodle said.

"Looks like it." Mud said, grasping the gold handle on one of the doors. "Nice song."

"It was just something I wrote." Noodle grasped the other handle.

The teenager smiled to himself. "I'd like to hear all of it one day." Mud said before opening the door and stepping into the office, Noodle next to him.

Suddenly the older Murdoc was on his other side, with 2D standing next to him, looking thoroughly mystified before spotting to two teenagers.

"Noodle!" 2D nearly cried with happiness. The one word echoed in the large room.

"Mister…Tusspot, I believe? Quiet." A scratchy voice rumbled across the room. A humanoid figure sitting in a tall chair at the end of a seemingly endless wooden conference table shifted lazily. Behind the chair was a large window, overlooking bubbling volcanic magma.

Mud's first impression was of a red anthropomorphic bulldog in an expensive black suit. Several sets of shiny black wings poked out of the back of the suit jacket, and a long pair of bone-white horns.

Satan grinned, showing dazzlingly white pointed teeth. "Hello Murdoc. I thought you'd be coming. Frankly, I expected you sooner." He frowned, glancing at the other people in the room, his eyes passing over Mud without particular interest. "And without the little entourage in tow."

"Murdoc's our friend." 2D shouted.

"Would you die for him? Forfeit your own soul for his salvation?" Satan shot back.

"Uh." 2D stammered. "Well…"

"Then let me ask you this: what do you expect to accomplish here, Mr. Tusspot? Everything has a cost. If you are not going to meet my price for your friend's humanity, then your trip here has been for nothing."

"W-well, I know-w that, b-but…" He stuttered.

"We were hoping we could appeal the contract." Noodle interrupted.

One black eyebrow rose. "Appeal?" Several papers appeared in front of him and he leafed through them. "I seem to remember his contract as being incredibly watertight. I have the best lawyers in the business working for me, you know."

"Excuse me, Mr. Satan?" 2D said. "But what if Murdoc's last name was spelled incorrectly on the contract? Would that be enough to get an appeal?"

Satan frowned. "I suppose so, except one of my underlings checked over the contract to prevent something like that from happening."

"No offense Mr. Satan, but I've seen a scan of the contract; it's got his name spelled with only one C and two Ls, which ain't right." 2D continued as Satan looked through the papers again, this time carefully scanning the text and gradually growing more and more frantic.

Murdoc's jaw dropped. "Noticed that?" He growled in his rumbling voice.

2D shrugged. "I'm not quite as dense as I sometimes look."

Satan's red face scrunched up in anger as he noticed the typo several times on every page, and compared it to a photocopy of Murdoc's birth certificate, which had instantly appeared on his desk as well. "Christ on a bike, it wasn't even spelled correctly _once_." The Prince Of Lies muttered, setting the papers down and looking up at the group. "Hold on for a minute, please." He pressed a small button on a black intercom console, which beeped.

"Yes, O Unholy One?" The receptionist demon drawled on the other end.

"Get me the demon who checked over the Nicalls contract in '86."

The console beeped again, and another demon's voice meekly said, " Y-yes?"

"Timore. I don't have the time to break it to you gently, but you fucked up in a massive way." Satan said bluntly.

"WHAT?! B-but, sir, p-plea…"

"I'm afraid you're simply not at all suited for this job, Timore."

Over the phone, 2D, Noodle, Mud and Murdoc heard the demon suddenly give a startled yelp and then the sound of a gooey explosion.

Satan pressed another button. "Thank you, Jack."

"Always a pleasure, sir." The receptionist demon said crisply.

Satan turned back to the group. "Sorry to keep you lot waiting, just had some minor business to take care of." Grinning grimly, he smoothed out his bright-red tie with a clawed hand.

"Now, because of that…_unfortunate_ inaccuracy in the contract, I'll agree that you have adequate ground to appeal the contract. And since Murdoc has seen fit to bring you lot down here with him, I'll give you the chance to redeem his humanity, since he is not in a position to do so for himself at this time. I will give each of you a task to fulfill. If you all succeed, I will restore Murdoc's humanity and abandon any claims I have over his soul."

"_But_," His empty eyes narrowed, "Should any one of you fail at your assigned task, Murdoc will stay a demon and remain in my servitude from now until the end of time."

END: part TWELVE

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ: Whoo hoo! I graduate from high school in about…nine hours. Go me! ;)

Thanks for the kind reviews for the last chapter, they really cheered me up! You guys are great. :D (Holy smokes, we've almost got a hundred!)

Chapter title is from Depeche Mode's 'Violator' album, song lyrics are Elvis Costello's 'Party Girl'.


	13. Martyr

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By MarqueeMoonGirl_

part THIRTEEN: Martyr

---

"_All I want to do is see you again  
Is that too much to ask for?  
I just want to see your sweet smile  
Smiled the way it was before"_

---

The three humans were silent for a moment as they let the Devil's last statement sink in.

"A task, huh?" 2D nodded nervously. "OK, I think we can do that," he said, his voice cracking.

Noodle looked fierce. "If Murdoc's humanity is at stake, then yes. I can do it."

Satan clapped his hands together in delight. "Wonderful! You can start in a moment."

Murdoc looked uncomfortable, and his younger self looked even more so. "Something about this feel… wrong," said Mud softly. Murdoc grunted in agreement, his large wings tense.

"Well, of course it feels wrong, boy! I am the Devil, after all. And here I am, offering you an opportunity to save your friend. You have every right to be suspicious," Satan said. "But I am sworn to not interfere during your tasks, and that's one of the few promises I'm bound to keep."

"Good enough for me," said 2D. "When do we start?"

Satan smirked. "Now." And with that, he snapped his fingers.

---

_"Mister Tusspot, my task for you is wrath, and not surrendering yourself to it. But once you fully comprehend what he's done to you, I'm afraid you haven't got a chance."_

2D groggily opened his eyes and sat up. He was in his bedroom at Kong Studios, early morning sunshine peeking through the curtains. He was full of a vauge feeling of unease, but couldn't remember why. The steady hum of the neon lights lining his room calmed him.

Sighing, 2D brought his hands to his face. "God, what a horrible dream."

When he pulled his hands away, they were covered in large, purple bruises and long, thick gashes. He watched in numb horror as his thumb was bent back farther then it was meant to go, a loud crack echoing in the room as the bone broke. He screamed, and clawed out of his bed, landing with a thump on the floor, narrowly missing his old computer. In addition to his arms, both his legs were bruised and bloody as well.

He pulled his injured hand to his bare chest, and looked up. For a moment, he could see himself reflected in the mirrored disco ball hanging from the ceiling. It wasn't the vacant stare of 2D, but instead the knowing face of Stuart Tusspot.

Then Stuart Pot's eyes were knocked backwards into his skull. 2D's head connected with the wooden crate he used as a nightstand, causing the lamp to fall onto the floor. He doubled over, moaning from the pain.

A jagged throbbing sensation began underneath his collarbone, and he pulled his hand away. Forcing himself to look down, 2D winced as an invisible scalpel slowly cut into his chest. The skin pulled back to reveal his internal organs, which flopped out onto the carpet like dead fish.

"No!" 2D shouted, and tried to shove his heart back into his chest. It fell out again. He grabbed at it again, only to stopped as a Cuban-heeled boot slammed down onto the back of his hand.

"I'll take those." Murdoc bent over the organs and quickly snatched them away, placing them in a Styrofoam container full of ice. "These'll keep me going for twenty years, at least," he said as he inspected a kidney.

An intense wave of pure, undiluted hatred passed over 2D as the pieces fell into place for the first time in several years. He grasped at the uneven edge of the cavity in his chest. "You did this to me?" He growled as the blood trickled down his fingers.

Murdoc almost looked surprised. "Of course. Who else would run over your head with a car, and then steal your organs?" He hefted the cooler up and walked to the open door. "You're just lucky your eyes are already damaged – my eyesight's starting to go."

The cooler suddenly dropped to the floor, tipping over. 2D had his hands around Murdoc's throat, throttling the breath out of him.

"You bastard. You sick FUCK." 2D breathed, tightening his grip. "You should've died a long time ago."

Murdoc gagged, his hands tugging ineffectively at 2D's hands.

'_No, STOP! Murdoc's my friend!_' A small voice cried in the back of his head. 2D's grip slackened slightly.

'_He's abused you, made fun of you, beaten you up just for fun. He's not a friend,'_ a resentful voice replied.

'…_maybe not, but…'_

With great effort, 2D removed his hands from Murdoc's neck and shoved him out of the room. He landed on the concrete with a thud. "…You don't deserve to die," he said panting.

For a long moment, Murdoc lay motionless, until he sat up coughing. "Almost fell short there, Mister Tusspot," he said in a voice that was not his own. "But sadly, you succeeded in not giving in to your anger. Congrats."

---

Glowering slightly, Satan led 2D to the door and then turned to Noodle. "Have you ever heard of the legend of Tam Lin, sweet?"

Noodle looked confused. "No…"

"Perfect." Satan snapped his fingers.

_"Sweet, your task is dealing with all that bloated pride…"_

Noodle found herself back in the streets of Stoke-On-Trent, standing in front of Sarah's Records with Mud next to her. People walked by the pair, not noticing them.

Noodle's first inclination was to throw her arms around Mud's neck. "Mud-kun!" she shouted.

His hand glided over the small of her back, and he gently rested his cheek against the top of her head. "Noods. We made it." He placed a light kiss in her hair, and she shut her eyes.

"_Hai_, we did," she sighed. Noodle opened her eyes, and then stiffened.

A shining gold inverted cross was hanging from a thin gold chain around Mud's neck.

"Noods? What's wrong" Mud asked, then glanced down. He gasped.

"Mud-kun?" She asked in a small voice, looking up.

The lined face of the adult Murdoc Niccals looked down at her. "You haven't called me that in ages, love." He leaned over and delicately placed his lips against her hair again.

It was horrible. She might've been able to turn away it if the caring and thoughtfulness behind the kisses Mud had given her were nowhere to be found, but they were still there, just as strong as ever. But another emotion that had only had a minor role before was also present in this kiss: lust.

Several of the people who had been passing by stopped. "Hey Grandpa, get a room!" Someone heckled.

She pulled away, stumbling backwards a few steps. "Murdoc-san?"

"A few years can make a hell of a difference, eh?" He smiled viscously, his long tongue snaking out of his mouth. "I'd imagine I look slightly different then when you last saw me."

There was now a small crowd surrounding Murdoc and Noodle. "Freak," another person shouted.

Noodle almost turned and ran away from Murdoc rather then face this. It'd had been lurking in the back of her mind ever since she'd first realized Mud was Murdoc as a teenager – the sweet and thoughtful teenager would grow up to be a bitter, empty man. She'd known it all along, but it had been so easy to gloss over that fact rather then dwell on it when they had been two separate people. Now that paradox was staring her in the face, waiting for her to say something.

"Cradle-robber!" One of the bystanders yelled.

"Pervert!"

Murdoc looked disappointed in himself. "You…hate me like this, don't you?"

And that was all it took for her to realize the truth.

"No!" She hugged Murdoc, dampening his charcoal shirt with her tears. "Oh Mud-kun, I still love you. I always will."

The hand that gently tilted her chin up was youthful and smooth. "That's all that matters to me," Mud said.

Most of the crowd dissipated, except for one tall frustrated man. "You passed," he growled and turned away.

---

"Mud, I did it! I did it!" Satan pushed Noodle out of the room, then locked the door. He turned back to Mud and Murdoc, the latter's wings still tensed.

"So what do you have in mind for me?" Mud asked.

"Resisting temptation. But before we start, I'd like to have a talk with you." A large red wingchair appeared behind the devil, and he sat down. He gestured towards a similar chair that has popped into existence behind Mud. "Please, sit."

Cautiously, Mud did so. "You didn't do this for 2D or Noodle."

"Frankly, they don't matter to me as much as you do, Murdoc."

"What?"

"Let me explain – Murdoc came to me in spring 1986 to sell his soul. Do you know what he got in return?"

"No."

"I gave him my bass guitar, El Diablo. I also infused him with more demon's blood – it gave him more charisma, more endurance, and helped improve his somewhat lackluster musical talent. Reved up his sex drive like you can't imagine. Along with the bass, I also promised him eventual worldwide fame and fortune."

Murdoc growled.

"Stop complaining. You're famous now, aren't you?" Satan said, and then turned his attention back to Mud. "Have you ever thought about how a Japanese girl ended up in a band in England with three men?" Without waiting for a response, Satan launched into the explanation. "Noodle was raised by the Japanese government along with twenty-two other children to be powerful superweapons – weapons that could've brought any nation to its knees. When the project was terminated, the children were supposed to be killed. One doctor spared Noodle's life by wiping her memory and shipping her and a Les Paul off to a fledgling band who placed an advertisement for a guitarist in the back of that month's issue of NME. That's how she became guitarist for Gorillaz."

Mud remembered when Noodle had appeared in the dark alley and expertly rescued him from Hannibal and his friends. "I believe it."

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two. A glass of red wine appeared in Satan's hands, and he took a sip. "Mud, are you still going to sell your soul to me?"

"Knowing how that ends up?" Mud snorted. "Hell no. I don't want to be like _that_." Mud said, pointing at Murdoc. "Sorry, but being a demon is not how I pictured my adult years."

The expression on Murdoc's face was unreadable.

Satan's eyes slitted. "I thought as much. But without my help and El Diablo, you will never have a successful band. And Noodle will die."

END: part THIRTEEN

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ: 'Sorry, it took so long' is officially my new favorite motto. This chapter did not want to be written. Or maybe I didn't want to write it – I'm sorry to say it's only going to get sadder from here, folks. Right now it looks like the next chapter will probably the last, and then after eight months this story will be finished:D

Thanks for the reviews! I can't believe over there's over a hundred of them now…

Chapter title is Depeche Mode's 'Martyr' from their newest Best Of CD, and the lyrics are 'See You', also by Depeche Mode.


	14. Since I’ve Been Loving You

_A Man Out Of Time_

_By __MarqueeMoonGirl_

part FOURTEEN : Since I've Been Loving You

---

_Don´t want to hear  
What´s going on  
I don´t care what´s new  
Don´t want to know about anything  
'Cause all I want is you._

_  
Going out with other girls  
Was always such a bore,  
But since I fell in love with you  
I need you more and more…_  
---

"You see Murdoc," Satan continued, "if Gorillaz never forms, you never place an ad in NME. Instead, Noodle is sent to a band in New York, and spends another two days in transit. And in those extra days, the Japanese government manages to track her down."

"What?" Mud said, stunned.

"Two Japanese agents pull her, dirty and afraid, out from the Fed Ex box, and take her guitar away. She is frightened, and has no idea what's going on. The men reassure her that they're going to bring her back to her father. Then one of the men puts his gun to Noodle's head and pulls the trigger." Satan took another swallow from his wineglass. "She dies almost instantly from the gaping gunshot wound in her brain."

Mud was speechless.

"But because of you, because of Gorillaz, she isn't found by the Japanese government and she lives. Murdoc, you can save her if you go back to your own time and sell your soul to me for fame and glory." The Devil said.

"I…don't…" said Mud, then he looked up at his older self. "Did you know about this before you signed that contract?"

"I knew," Murdoc growled in his demonic voice. He tapped the top of Mud's head with a claw. "Think. I heard it when I was you, sitting in that chair. And I did it anyway, for Noodle."

"How much are you willing to sacrifice for her, Murdoc?" Satan said. "After all, everything has a price."

"But I'm gonna have to be a…a disgusting boozing strung-out junkie Satanist bass-player?" Mud said. "Is that really necessary?"

"Essentially, it's your happiness in exchange for her life. Balances out quite nicely, I think." Satan replied. "But even if you walk away from me now, the thought that you chose to let Noodle die for your own sake will crush any pleasure you might get out of the rest of your life. It's better this way. You'll still be utterly miserable of course, but at least the object of your affection will remain living, eh? And worldwide fame is nothing to sneeze at either."

Mud stared at the Devil. "You fucking bastard. This was your plan all along, wasn't it?"

Satan grinned. "I'm the _original _fucking bastard, kid." His voice took on a rougher edge. "Before you turn twenty years old, you will be _begging _to sell your soul to save your little Noodle, who, by the way, will be twenty-five years _younger_ then you when you finally see her again."

Mud glowered. "Asshole."

"Thank you," said Satan pleasantly, standing up. "Before I start your task, I have a proposal for you."

"What the fuck is it?" Mud said irritably, standing up as well.

"Very soon, you'll encounter a man standing outside the Arndale Center giving out pamphlets on Satanism. If you promise now to take one when you see him and become a Satanist, I'll waive your task and turn older Murdoc back into a human. Trust me, you'd never pass the task I've got in mind for you."

"What happens if I say yes, and then don't become a devil-worshipper?"

"Well, I'd know if that happened, and then you'd have a dead Noodle on your hands." Satan grinned again. "Wouldn't want that now, would we?"

"No," said Mud dejectedly.

"So you agree?" Satan said.

"Yes." Mud spat the word out.

"Terrific! Now that it's settled, I'll send you back."

Mud held up his hand. "Hold it. Change Murdoc back to normal first."

Satan rolled his red eyes, but agreed. "It's a fair cop."

An odd expression crossed Murdoc's face as his large wings shriveled in upon themselves. Closing his eyes, Murdoc's sharp claws turned back into overlong fingernails, and the two tiny horns poking through his hair sank down. When his eyes opened, they were no longer empty red, but his usual mismatched red-and-black pupils.

"Thank you," Murdoc said to Mud softly. In response, Mud looked down at the floor of the office, uncertain and nervous. "You're doing the right thing, Mud," said Murdoc, placing his hands on the teenager's shoulders.

"Do I ever regret this?" Mud asked quietly, his voice breaking. He looked up at his older self.

"No." Murdoc gently squeezed Mud's shoulders and let go. "But I'm not going to lie to you, it's not exactly a stroll through the daisies either."

Mud bit his lip. "Jesus, it's going to be fucking awkward between you and Noodle once I go, isn't it?"

Murdoc shrugged. "Probably," he said.

There was a moment of silence as the past and present Murdocs stared at each other "Noodle doesn't know the truth about this, does she?" Mud said.

"You know she's a tough girl, Mud. But telling her the real reason I sold my soul would destroy her. It's best if she doesn't know."

Mud nodded. "Okay." He turned to face Satan, who was tapping one very expensive black shoe. "You know what I want you to tell Noodle, right?" Mud said, looking at his older self over his shoulder.

Behind him, Murdoc nodded. "I remember."

"Thanks." Mud took a deep breath. "Y'know, you're not as bad as I thought at first."

"I've got a reputation to protect." Murdoc said with a half-smile, then stepped back.

Mud turned back to Satan. "I'm ready."

The large room swirled around him, and Mud found himself back in his makeshift bed of threadbare blankets in Mike Hell's apartment, looking at the large clock lit by a shaft of moonlight. 11:58 PM. Two minutes until his sixteenth birthday was over. It was almost similar to the day before, when he's been staring at the clock waiting for his birthday, except for one important difference.

Noodle wasn't there. He wouldn't see her again for nearly twenty years, and when they finally did meet again, she would be a child and he would be over thirty.

God dammit.

He buried his head in his pillow and didn't move for a very long time. If one listened hard enough, they would be able to hear the quiet sounds of Murdoc Niccals mourning a relationship with a charming girl that had been damned from the start.

---

Murdoc slowly opened the door leading to the hallway. 2D and Noodle looked up at Murdoc's unreadable face.

"Murdoc, you're human again!" 2D shouted joyfully.

"But where's Mud?" Noodle said quizzically.

The bassist inhaled, preparing to put on the best damn show he'd ever done in his life. "He failed his task. Satan sent him back to 1982 with his memories of what happened erased," he lied.

Noodle's expression turned hard, and her head dipped down, probably trying to hold back tears. Murdoc's rough façade nearly slipped. It was necessary for her to think that he didn't remember what had happened between them. It would undoubtedly be hard on Noodle, but it would save both of them from embarrassment later.

"But if he failed, why aren't you a demon?" 2D asked.

"Satan decided to give me a break."

2D frowned. "So that task stuff Noodle and I did…it was all for nothing?"

Murdoc shrugged. "Seems that way, face-ache."

The singer looked visibly upset. "That's shit!" he loudly shouted.

Murdoc grabbed 2D's arm and dragged him away from Cerberus sleeping next to 2D's feet. "You can bitch about it at Kong, away from the giant three-headed-dog. C'mon Noods, we're going home."

Not looking at Murdoc, the Japanese girl slowly got to her feet and followed 2D and Murdoc silently.

---

Some days later, life at Kong had more or less gone back to normal. The tremors that had rocked the hilltop had stopped as soon as Murdoc, 2D, and Noodle returned from Hell with Pazuzu, who had transformed back into a large black raven and landed on Murdoc's shoulder. That night, 2D had taken a strong dose of painkillers and chased an indignant Cortez/Pazuzu around the Carpark for the better part of an hour. The time-jumps had for the most part ended, although Murdoc had some doubts that they'd cease entirely. The supernatural epicenter that was Kong Studios could mean that they might continue for a while.

As far as he could tell, the powers of Hell were keeping the time-jumps from leading to Stoke-On-Trent, circa 1982, and for that Murdoc was grateful. It wouldn't tempt Noodle to jump into one to find Mud. He took the fact that he didn't recall Noodle tracking him down between 1982 and the present as a good sign that she wouldn't interfere with his past.

In his Winnebago, Murdoc opened a drawer in his dresser. Nestled in the very back of the drawer was a small black velvet box with a folded piece of yellowed paper inside, on top of a thin gold band with a small diamond chip set in the center.

Murdoc opened the box and unfolded the paper.

'_September 15__th__, 1982_

_Dear Noodle:_

_I did say I wanted to get you something, right? Too bad I won't be able to give this ring to you for over twenty years, but that's life. It gives you something great, then kicks you in the teeth and takes it away._

_I miss you more then I could possibly tell you._

_Love,_

_Mud/ Mud-kun/ Murdoc Niccals'_

Even though he'd already decided it'd just be simpler to pretend he'd forgotten about her, he'd written the note mainly to make himself feel better. It hadn't helped. He crumpled the note in his hands and threw it to the cleaned floor. Except for the slashed seats, the Winnebago had been cleaned up and repaired to its pre-demon Murdoc state.

He shut the jewelry box and placed it on top of the clothes lining the open drawer and walked out of the Winnebago to the lift, trying to think up a convincing, non-romantic way to give her the ring. Maybe he could tell Noodle he'd bought a ring when he was younger to give to the woman he proposed to, but that'd never happened and wasn't going to happen in the near future, and he'd known she'd been upset since Mud had left, and maybe this would make her feel better, etc, etc, etc.

He jabbed at the up button, and the lift slowly moved upwards. By the time the lift was out of sight, the door leading to the stairs opened, and Noodle walked out.

She knocked on the Winnebago's door. "Murdoc-san?" She gently nudged the door, and found it was unlocked. Not that it would matter, as she had a key ring in her pocket that opened all the doors in Kong, including the Winnebago. "Murdoc-san?" She repeated, opening the door.

Upon seeing the crumpled paper on the floor, Noodle tsked loudly. "Murdoc-san is messy. It hasn't even been a day since we got this place picked up." She picked up the paper, and looked around the Winnebago for a trash can. Spotting one in the bathroom, she pulled her arm back to throw it into the can.

Cortez/Pazuzu loudly squawked, startling the small teenager before she could throw. She looked at the bird, then at the crumpled paper ball.

The date and her name was clearly readable on the paper. Her eyes widened, and she quickly smoothed the paper out on top of Murdoc's dresser. Noodle read the note, then she read it again to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her.

A feeling of elation burst within her. Mud-kun had remembered her after all! But then, why had Murdoc lied to her?

_'Maybe he thought it would be easier for me to let go and move on if I thought he didn't remember what'd happened between us, now that he's too old to be my boyfriend,'_ Noodle thought, and the more she considered it, the more she was sure it must be the reason. She smiled in spite of herself. Just like Mud-kun. He was trying to make it easier on both of them.

Noodle folded the note and slid it into the back pocket of her shorts. She turned to leave when her eyes fell upon the tiny black velvet box sitting on top of Murdoc's shirts.

The note had mentioned a ring, but she'd assumed that somewhere along the way it'd disappeared, or been pawned off for money, and it would never find its way to her. She slowly turned the box over in her hands. Embossed into the bottom of the box was the name of the jewelry store where the ring that was possibly inside had been purchased, and the date of sale, September 15th, 1982. Three months after Mud had returned to his own time

Her stomach churning nervously, wondering what she might find within, Noodle slowly opened the box and gasped. Inside was a shining gold ring, the small diamond sparkling even in the low light inside the Winnebago.

Noodle pulled the ring out of the box and peered at it. 'NOODLE' had been professionally engraved in neat, tiny letters inside the ring.

Trembling slightly, Noodle slid the ring onto her right ring finger. It fit perfectly, as though it had been made for her and her alone.

Noodle stood in the Winnebago, looking at the ring, and decided upon an idea she'd been toying with since she'd come back from Hell.

'_I miss you more then I could possibly tell you,'_ the note had said.

'_Me too, Mud-kun.'_

The ring still on her finger, she ran out of the mobile home to prepare, the keys jingling merrily in her pocket.

---

Murdoc opened the door to 2D's room without knocking. "Hey face-ache, seen Noodle lately?"

2D turned from the computer game he'd been playing on his ancient PC. "Not lately, no. Why are you lookin' for her?"

"She's not in her room, and Russel hasn't seen her for a few hours." Murdoc said, trying not to let the worry he felt show in his voice. What if she decided to find one of the time-jumps and try to change his past? Murdoc wasn't sure how well younger Murdoc would be able to tell her to go back to her own time and not hurt her feelings in the process.

2D scratched his head, then smiled. "Hey! I did see her! She came out of your Winnebago a little over an hour ago, looking really happy."

Murdoc's face instantaneously paled.

2D looked bewildered by Murdoc's reaction. "What, is that a bad thing?"

Without answering, Murdoc ran towards his Winnebago, tore through the door and darted towards his dresser.

"Fuck!" Murdoc shouted as he saw the empty box in the drawer. He looked down, and noticed that the crumbled note had disappeared as well.

2D pulled himself into the Winnebago. "Murdoc? What's wrong?"

"Noodle's gone," said Murdoc, pushing past 2D.

"What? Noodle's gone? But where would she go?" said a panicking 2D, following Murdoc out of the mobile home.

"I'll tell you where: into one of those fucking time-jumps," snapped Murdoc, dashing up the stairs, 2D struggling to keep pace.

Running up the level of the studio, the two men reached the drummer's room at last. Murdoc kicked the door open with his worn Cuban-heeled boot. "Russel!" Murdoc shouted, looking more demonic then when he'd been an actual demon.

The drummer was talking to someone over his mobile phone. Recognizing an angry bassist when he saw one, Russel quickly ended the call. "Muds, what is it?"

"Noodle's gone. I think she went into one of those time-jumps to try to find younger me," said Murdoc.

Russel dropped the phone on the bed. "Oh crap, man. I knew that call was bad news."

"Huh?" 2D said.

"That was our accountant. Noodle came to the bank about an hour ago and withdrew her share of Gorillaz's money in cash. From what he said, it was a pretty large chunk of change."

2D's mouth dropped wide open. "She…took the money? Why'd she do that?" he stuttered.

"To be able to in live in another time comfortably?" Russel shrugged. "I never really read those kind of science-fiction books when I was a kid. If I'd known I'd be living one, maybe I would've."

Shaking his head, Murdoc silently turned and walked out of Russel's room. The large African-American man pulled on Murdoc's arm. "Wait, man. Where're you going? Shouldn't we try to look for Noodle?"

Murdoc's face was dour. "Too late now. I'm going to my Winnie, where I'm gonna get plastered and wait for Gorillaz to fade out of existence. I suggest you two do likewise." He pulled his arm free and walked away, leaving a confused Russel and 2D to ponder his cryptic remark.

Murdoc reached his Winnebago, but instead of entering it, he put his arm up against the metal exterior and sighed, closing his eyes. It was amazing how quickly this situation had gone into the crapper.

"For the love of Satan, don't do anything stupid, Noods," Murdoc said quietly.

There was a light, feminine laugh behind him. "Do you really think so little of me, Mud-kun?"

Murdoc spun around.

Standing behind him was a tall, slender Japanese woman in her late thirties, dressed in a long dark blue coat, soaking wet with rain. Her shoulder-length purple hair was cut into a fringe that almost hid her bright green eyes from sight. Around one of her elegant fingers was a sparkling diamond set into a thin gold ring.

The woman smiled. "So what do you think, Mud-kun?"

Murdoc found himself unable to speak as the woman took off her coat. He silently looked at the woman's clothing: a fitted black sweater over a white button-down shirt and a black pleated skirt that reached her knees. Around her feet were black ankle-high boots.

"You look…lovely." Murdoc finally said, astonished.

The Japanese woman grinned mischievously at him, dropping the damp coat on the cement floor. "_Arigato_."

Murdoc slowly reached out and took one of the woman's delicate hands into his own. It was warm and soft and alive. Still not quite believing what his eyes were seeing, he placed his other hand on the smooth skin of her face.

The Japanese woman gently placed her free hand over his. "Mud-kun, it really is me," she said quietly. "Noodle. I've been living on my own in London for the past twenty years. I'm thirty-six now."

Murdoc placed his hands around Noodle's thin waist. "You did this for me?" He said in a hushed voice. "Why'd you go and do something silly like that for?"

"Because I wanted to be with you," she said, gently wrapping her arms around his neck. Her green eyes met Murdoc's. "Because I love you, Mud-kun."

With that, Noodle gently placed her lips over Murdoc's.

_'It didn't seem fair that time was the only thing keeping us apart.'_

END: a MAN out OF time

MarqueeMoonGirl SEZ: Eight months later, and here we are, at the end of the longest fanfiction I've written to date. Don't mind me if I start crying. It's a very emotional time.

I'd like to thank the people who've reviewed and supported the story. It's great that a lot of people like it! I never dreamed that this story would be so popular – 'A Man Out Of Time' currently has 115 reviews and 4,138 hits, which is…a lot. Trust me on this.

I'd also like to thank Fop626 for being such a good friend and moral supporter, and for also serving as the inspiration for Sarah, the owner of the used-record store that Mud and Noodle visit in Part Five.

I originally had a different ending in mind, the difference being Murdoc didn't try to hide the fact that he remembered Noodle from when he was a teen, which lead to Noodle and Murdoc having a very tearful and angsty argument, and Noodle ends up packing her things and leaving Kong. I like this one better – waaay less depressing.

Also, the devil referred to Mud's task as 'resisting temptation' in the last chapter, and also mentions here that Mud would never pass it – Yes, his task would've had to do with Noodle. Feel free to guess what it might've been. : P

Chapter title is from Led Zeppelin's 'Led Zeppelin III' album. Lyrics are Roxy Music's 'All I Want Is You.'

Bye bye!


End file.
